


The Siren Song

by SarahAimee



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, Self-Harm, Sirens, Were-Creatures, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-25
Updated: 2015-03-23
Packaged: 2018-03-09 01:03:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 39,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3230378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarahAimee/pseuds/SarahAimee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vasilissa Volkov (Please, call me Lissa) is a dangerous girl, and the most dangerous thing about her? She's really good at hiding it. Even from herself.<br/>Lissa grew up in foster care after her siren mother dropped her off at an orphanage when she was just a small child. She is taken in by the Argent family in San Francisco and moves to Beacon Hills with them just before her and Allison are due to start their sophomore year.<br/>She is struggling to control her powers as they continue to develop and her darker side tries to show itself. But sweet, sweet Lissa is determined not to become a monster like her mother, and with the help of new werewolf Scott McCall and his friends, she just might be able to keep her humanity in tact, all whilst trying to hide her true nature from the very people that are helping her.<br/>What will happen when the truth comes out? Or can she manage to keep her secret in a town that is swarming with supernatural creatures of all shapes and sizes?<br/>*I will try to be as canon compliant in the plot as possible, but obviously there will be some changes as I am inserting a new character*<br/>*this is not a self-insert story*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Siren Song

I've always known that I was a pretty girl.  
As far back as my memories go, people have always told me that I’m pretty, that I’ll grow up to be a heart-breaker, that I am beautiful - but physical beauty isn't everything. 

As one of the lucky few to be born with excellent genetics, I've never really wanted for anything. I always got sent to the best foster homes, my foster parents always bought me the nicest clothes and the kids at school always wanted to be my friend. That is, until something went wrong, and I was sent to the next place. And something always went wrong. So I guess that there is something that I've always wanted but never gotten – a place to call home, and a family to call my own.   
I don’t know who my father is, I doubt that my mother even knew his name. He was just some guy from Russia who was too stupid to know better than to get involved with her. I lived with my mother until I was old enough to not need her anymore, and then I was dropped off at an American orphanage with a note and my birth certificate. The note said to not come looking for her, and that she was signing over all parental rights to the state. What a loving mother, hey?   
When I was ten, strange things started happening around me. I noticed how mesmerised the boys would all get when they caught me brushing my hair, so I chopped it all off one night – I didn't want the attention. It had grown back by the next morning. I also noticed how people tended to stop and stare at me when I sang, and not in a ‘wow, what a nice voice’ kind of way, but a creepy ‘ask me to kill my wife and I will’ way. A few weeks after my eleventh birthday my mother found me, she had been tracking me down for months using her 'skills of allure'. She told me what I was, that I had to be very careful over the next few years not to expose myself or I could bring ruin down on our whole species. She gave me a guidebook on how to control and develop my powers, then she was gone. I haven’t seen her since.   
What am I, you ask? I am a siren, a daughter of the Earth. When I grow older and my powers fully mature, I'll be capable of luring men to their deaths by the hundreds - I will be an unstoppable force of nature. There's only one problem. I don't want to be a harbinger of death, I just want to get my education and find a job that pays the bills. Until then, however, I have to suffer through the torture known as high school, where people only see me for my outer beauty and not for the genius that I am inside.   
That's what I'm getting ready for now, my first day of sophomore year at Beacon Hills High School. My current foster family just moved here, so my new 'sister' Allison and I are starting today. Oh well, at least I'm not the only new kid this time...


	2. High School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know much about the American Foster care system, but for the sake of the story let's pretend that it works the way I've written it.  
> I've taken the Siren powers that Vasilissa will have from several mythology books, and I will explain them in the chapter notes at the end as they are introduced.  
> Sorry if there's any spelling or grammar mistakes. This is my first story, and i don't have an editor. Also, I'm Australian not American, so i might use terms or words wrong as I'm getting all of my info on the American schooling system from the mighty google. Let me know if there's a word you don't understand, and i'll do my best to figure out what Americans call it.  
> I'll be trying to post updates at least once a week.

As I run my brush through my long, wavy hair, I think back on the last couple of months. The San Francisco Department of Children’s Services were getting a bit sick of finding new places to put me, so when the Argent family asked if it was okay for me to relocate to Beacon county with them, they jumped at the chance.  
I catch myself humming along to the radio and quickly turn it off, before turning my attention back to my hair. I joined the Argent family about three months back, in San Francisco. Chris and Victoria were new to the foster program, so when they walked into the group home that I was staying at they chose the most normal looking child there; me. They’re a really nice family, but something seemed a bit off about them from the very start. Why would a family that specializes in the selling of weapons be looking for a foster kid? And where did Chris disappear to at night time/? It didn't take me long to figure it out. Once I began to care about them, they started appearing in my dreams. One night, I dreamt that Chris was out hunting in the woods, and got attacked by a rabid omega werewolf. The next night, he came home with an injury down his leg in the exact place where he was scratched in my dream. I consulted the guide book that my mother gave me four and a half years ago, and discovered that I was living with a very dangerous hunting family – one that dates back centuries. Although the Argent family primarily specializes in werewolf hunting, I knew that I would not be safe once they learnt my secret. Chris’ sister Kate is particularly dangerous; though she comes off as sweet and innocent, she has a dark and twisted aura surrounding her.

We had been living in San Fran for about two and a half months when I overheard Chris on the phone talking about a rogue alpha in Beacon Hills, the next day he contacted Child Services and I was certain that he was sending me back. When the lady came by that afternoon I already had my go-bag packed with my essential items and waiting upstairs, but all she wanted was to confirm that I was okay with the move. Two weeks later, and here we are. I check my handbag as I pin my jet black hair up into a messy bun when I suddenly remember the dream that I had last night about Allison forgetting her pen and quickly tuck a second blue pen into my bun. It’s a habit I got into three foster homes ago. I was staying with a Japanese/Korean family, and their daughter Kira always had drawing utensils stuck in her hair so that if she got inspired she always had something to draw with.

“Vasilissa! If you want a ride to school you’ll need to hurry up,” I hear Victoria call from downstairs, “Allison is ready, and you need to leave in five minutes or you’ll be late!” No matter how many times I ask her to please, for the love all Medusa, call me Lissa, Victoria insists on calling me by my full first name. “I’m coming, I’m coming,” I shout down the stairs before giving myself a last minute once over in the mirror. My conservative top contrasts perfectly with my short bubble skirt, and the whole look is pulled together by my inky black tights. I slip my feet into my favourite pastel pink heels and meet Allison near the front door.

“Ready for our first day?” She asks me nervously as we walk to the car, “No matter how many of these I have, I never seem to get the hang of being the new girl.”  
“At least neither of us has to be new on our own, and we’re starting on the first day of the year,” I comment as we slide into her car, “hopefully that means that we won’t be too conspicuously new. There’ll be heaps of freshman starting today, too.” I can see that she visibly calms down when she realises that I’m right, and we both spend the rest of the short ride to school lost in our own thoughts. As we’re sitting outside the school waiting for our guide to show us to our homeroom, Victoria calls Allison again to check up on her. I realise that this is the scene from my dream, and pull my spare pen out of my bun ready to hand to her. I’m really hoping that I can blend into the background at this school, and Allison won’t try to drag me into the spotlight. My powers have been fluctuating significantly as my sixteenth birthday draws near, and I don’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to myself. I hand my pen to her as she hangs up and she is about to hand it to me when a member of the school staff comes out and introduces himself to us.

“So, Vasilissa Volkov. That’s an interesting name,” the man, whose name I didn’t pay attention to, trails off as he looks at me. “It’s Russian,” I respond flatly, careful to keep any musical lilt out of my voice, “but I’ve spent almost my whole life here in America.” “Interesting, and did you both always live in San Francisco?” he asks Allison, seeming to pick up on my lack enthusiasm for the conversation.  
“Well, Lissa did, I think, but I only lived there for about six months. My family moves around a lot due to my dad’s job.” We arrive at a classroom door and I’m about to thank my lucky stars that I can retreat to the back of the classroom when Mr. School Guide announces that this is just Allison’s homeroom. I stand outside the door and wait awkwardly for her to be introduced before he leads me down the hall to my homeroom. I’m introduced to the class and the overly enthusiastic home room teacher does the unthinkable – she asks me to tell the class a little bit about myself. As I stand at the front of the class, awkwardly wishing to be anywhere else, I call upon all of my siren powers to get through the next few minutes. Throwing my shoulders back, I say “Hello. I am Vasilissa Volkov, but you can all just call me Lissa as it is a bit of a mouthful. I’m Russian but no I don’t know anything much about the country, and I don’t speak Russian. I’ve lived in San Francisco since I was three months old, and I hate swimming. Can I sit down now?”  
I address the last bit to the teacher, adding in a little siren charm without thinking and he stutters out “o-of course. Take a seat at the back, next to Matt. Here’s your timetable.” I quickly make my way down the back to the boy he pointed out, and sit there studying my timetable for the next ten minutes as the teacher carries on with the morning announcements. I am acutely aware that the boy next to me is staring, but I turn off all siren charm and do my best to ignore him. I’m trying to find my chemistry classroom on the crudely drawn map when he leans over and whispers “I hate swimming, too,” before getting up and leaving with the rest of the class.  
I make it through all of my morning classes without a struggle. I’ve never taken an I.Q. test, but I know that I am smart enough to skip a grade or two if I wanted to. Mother said that I shouldn’t draw attention to myself though, so I happily let the world assume that I’m just an air-headed, pretty-faced girl, and make sure that I never get above 95% on a test or assignment.

I’m at my locker to drop off my books before lunch when I notice a partially formed light purple aura surrounding a dark haired boy two lockers over. I know that purple auras mean that the person is a werewolf, but I’ve never encountered an aura that isn’t fully formed before. Maybe he’s newly bitten? He’s certainly being obvious with his eavesdropping. I glance over and notice that he’s watching Alison talk to the Banshee that I noticed earlier in my Latin class and a junior on the school sports team. I’m so absorbed in my thoughts that I don’t notice a boy trying to get my attention.  
“Hello? Great. Another beautiful girl who’s going to ignore my existence,” he sighs to the possible werewolf.  
“Sorry, I was spacing out,” I say as I turn to face the boy, “you’re, um, sorry. I’m terrible with names. You’re in my economics class, right?” I say to the boy.  
“Yea. It’s Stiles. Stiles Stilinski, and this is my best friend Scott. That’s your sister, right? The one who just went off with the Goddess known as Lydia Martin?” I turn around and sure enough, Alison has ditched me to have lunch with her new friends, “Sort of. She’s my foster sister. We’re not actually related,” I explain to the boy, “and Lydia’s not actually a Goddess, right? Surely you don’t believe in all of that mythology nonsense?”  
“What? No. It’s just a saying. Hey, since you got ditched, you should come and have lunch with me and Scott,” Stiles says tactlessly, “Unless you’ve got other plans, of course.”  
“No, I don’t. I’d love to sit with you guys. Stiles Stilinski is an odd name, is it a nickname, or did your parents just like alliteration?” “Vasilissa Volkov is an odd name, too. It’s Russian, right?” He asks back. I realise that this is my chance to see what these boys know about the supernatural, and stare straight at them as I reply “Yes. It’s from the Russian word _Volk_ , which means wolf.” I notice Stiles flail slightly as I mention the word wolf, as does Scott, but don’t mention it. I’m trying to go unnoticed as a supernatural being in this town and though these boys could potentially be a wealth of information on the subject, I am unwilling to clue them in to my own supernatural status if I can help it. Stiles moves the subject back to school and I allow him to compare our schedules as I pull my lunch out of my bag.

I remember the cafeteria food from San Fran and from the looks of what the boys are eating, I’m glad that I decided to continue eating packed lunches from home. Soon enough the bell goes and Stiles announces that we have maths together, so I follow him and Scott to the maths room. As I walk in I notice Allison wave me over, and gladly go to sit next to her. This is the first class that we’ve had together all day.  
“Where were you at lunch,” she asks me as we wait for the teacher to arrive.  
“Well, I went to my locker to put my books away and when I turned around, you’d left. So I sat with some boys from my economics class,” I respond as the teacher walks in the room and starts handing out the syllabus. I give it a cursory glance and sigh, this is going to be another easy class.

After school Allison is feeling guilty for ditching me at lunch, so she convinces me to come with her to watch the lacrosse team tryouts with her and Lydia. I decide that I might as well tag along, as I would have to wait for her anyway. I wish I was 16 already so that I could drive myself around, not that I’ll ever have my own car. I am looking over my homework list for the day when everyone suddenly cheers. Looking up I see that Scott is kicking ass on the field and judging by Lydia’s reaction this is a new development. I make a mental note to look in my guide book later and see if there’s anything in there about newly bitten werewolves. If Scott’s not careful people are going to realise that something is up with him, and I really don’t want the Argents to figure it out because then we’ll have to move again. After pulling off a particularly spectacular move, Scott suddenly grabs his head and starts panting heavily as Stiles pulls him off the field and towards the school. I notice another light purple aura in the trees on the other side of the oval and glance casually around to not make it obvious that I’m looking to see who it is, but the person is too far back for me to make out a face. Thanking my lucky stars that Scott has another beta looking out for him, I pack up my books and get ready to leave with Allison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well! That was an eventful first day for Lissa.  
> Siren powers so far:  
> \- prophetic dreams. Sirens have knowledge of the future, but each siren will have a varying degree of ability to see it. Lissa gets knowledge of her personal future and those of people she cares about, but her power will not fully develop until she reaches maturity at the age of 25. At the moment she get her knowledge from dreams. She cannot control when she gets the dreams, or the information that she gets in them, but she has perfect recall afterward.  
> \- the hair. as her hair moves about, the shine is mesmerising to males. She keeps it up in a bun at all times to stop this from happening.  
> \- the voice. sirens are known for their entrancing voices. Lissa mostly has control over hers and can stop it from being alluring but when she gets emotional it often slips and she is left feeling guilty afterward.  
> \- the intelligence. Not actually a power, she's just really smart. She's also very observant and good at playing dumb.


	3. Disastrous First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lissa tries to help Scott survive his first full moon without destroying all hope of a relationship with Allison. The only problem? He can't figure out that she's helping him.

A door banging closed wakes me up and I blearily look over to my alarm clock to see that it is just past midnight. I must have fallen asleep whilst studying my guide book after dinner. I can hear Allison creeping down the hall way as I slowly gather my books up and get ready for bed.  
“Lissa? Are you up?” Allison softly knocks on my door before cracking it open and peeking in, “I can hear you moving around, can I come in?”  
“Yea sure,” I reply, looking up, “oh my gosh, Allison! You’re soaked through! And whose shirt is that?” Allison grabs the towel that’s hanging over the back of my desk chair and wraps it around her hair before plonking down on my floor with a dreamy smile on her face. “It’s your friend Scott’s. I hit a dog with my car,” is the only explanation I receive.  
“Um, I think I need some more context here, Al. Are you trying to tell me that Scott is a dog?” I joke. That seems to startle her back to reality a bit.  
“What? No. I was driving in the storm, and this dog came out of nowhere! I swear, Lis, there was no way I could avoid it. Anyway, I was terrified that I’d killed it, so I put it in the back of my car and drove to the vet. I got saturated by the rain while I was waiting for someone to answer the door.”  
“Oh, well that explains why you’re dripping water all over the floor,” I respond, “but not why you've got a dreamy look on your face, or why you’re wearing Scott’s shirt. Was he with you in the car?”  
“No, he works at the vet clinic. The dog was hysterical by the time I got there, but he was able to calm it down. He’s really got a way with animals, he’ll make a great vet one day,” she begins to explain, “anyway, he brings the dog inside and looks it over briefly. It has a broken leg or something, but it’ll be fine. Then he noticed that I was shivering, so he offered me his spare shirt. And then he asked me out!” “Wait, what? You’re going on a date with Scott? When? Where? Details, woman!” I have to work really hard to contain the squeal of joy that’s threatening to come out as I am so happy for the two of them. It was painfully obvious today that Scott is completely smitten with Allison, and from her reaction tonight the feeling is mutual.  
“There’s this party at Lydia’s house for the Lacrosse team, he asked me to go as his date. You should come too! I’m sure there’s a cute boy on the team that Lydia could set you up with.” I get up and move back towards my bed to continue getting ready for bed, “I don’t know, Allison. I’m not really interested in dating. Like, at all. Plus, it’s your date. You don’t want me to gate crash it, do you?”  
“You’re right, sorry. Anyway, it’s late, we should get to bed. See you in the morning Lissa,” she replies as she is walking out of my room, “come sit with me at lunch, if you want.”

Classes the next day prove to be as dull as I expected, and I end up spending most of the morning pondering over the supernatural side of Beacon Hills. There’s something about this town that I just can’t put my finger on, there’s an air of magic surrounding the whole place but it’s not substantial enough for me to pin point what it is exactly. I consulted my guide book last night but it had very little to say on Beacon Hills, except that the town used to be a literal beacon for the supernatural and that it was founded by the Hale family – a werewolf family that dates back to before the written word. The Hale family all but died out a few years ago in a fire and I decide that if I become desperate for information I will have to reach out to one of the remaining family members and ask them for help with understanding this strange town.

I'm jolted out of my reverie by Stiles slamming down next to me on the bench in phys ed. “Okay, sister. I need your help with something.” His leg is jumping up and down slightly with pent up energy and he looks slightly frustrated.  
“Shoot, what’s up?” I ask him curiously.  
“Okay, there’s no way you don’t know about Scott and Allison by now, but I need your help. Scott is … well, he’s clueless and he won’t shut up about Allison. I need you to talk to him and calm him down so that he’ll shut up. Oh, and if you could maybe talk him out of going to the party as their first date, that’d be cool too. Or even just talk him out of doing it at all tonight. Friday is a better date night anyway.” I’m confused at first by Stiles’ attempt to sabotage his best friend’s love life before it clicks and I realise that tonight is a full moon. Chris only buys calendars with the moon cycles marked on them, which makes it easy for me to inconspicuously keep track of the moon’s cycles.  
“Well, I mean, if you’re concerned about him stuffing up, you could always be at the party to keep an eye on him and run interference? I don’t think that cancelling is going to be a viable option though, Allison is really looking forward to this date tonight, and Scott might get a bit angry if he thinks you’re trying to ruin it for him. Besides if worst comes to worst, you can always just haul his arse out of there and take him home. I can cover with Allison and tell her that he got sick or something?” I suggest. I really need to figure out a way to hint to them that I know about the supernatural, without making it obvious as to why I’m so knowledgeable. Stiles seems to be thinking over my suggestion at a million miles an hour as I get up to begin stretching. Coach blows his whistle and I start to slowly jog around the oval for my warm up lap. I have a much higher stamina than most humans due to my enhanced healing which means that I can run faster and longer than I should be able to, but I always aim to be in the middle of the group so that I don’t stand out to any aspiring coach. I end up running next to a boy from the year above us called Danny. Half an hour into the run and he is barely working up a sweat, he even seems to be going slowly to keep pace with me.  
“You’re Allison’s sister, right?” He asks me in an even tone. Oh yea, he’s definitely not pushing himself right now.  
“Foster sister,” I reply curtly, “Why?”  
“You should come sit with us at lunch time. Lydia is all about Allison right now which means that Jackson is all about Allison, so I’m getting ignored at the table. You should come and keep me company, maybe I can have some intelligent conversation for once,” he says before sprinting the rest of the lap back to coach. I start slowing my approach and making my breathing seem as laboured as the rest of the class as I get closer to the finish line, before walking back to the lockers to change before lunch. I’m heading to the cafeteria with my lunch when Stiles corners me again.  
“Ok, so I had an idea. You’re going to the party tonight, right?” he asks me, “Well I’m going to be going as well, so why don’t we go together and then we can keep an eye on Scott and Allison. It’ll be like a spy mission.”  
“As friends, right?” I clarify, “I don’t really date, so …” I trail off, hoping that I don’t have to end this friendship before it’s truly begun. “Of course! No offense, but I’m more into five foot three, green eyed, fair skinned strawberry blondes-“ “Named Lydia Martin?” I cut him off with a grin, “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything. Yea, sure. Did you want to pick me up? I don’t have a car or license yet.”  
“Uh, yea, sure. Text me your address?” He replies, “I’ll pick you up at 8.”  
“Cool. Hey, I’ve got to go. Danny kind of told me that I’m sitting with him at lunch and I don’t think it was optional,” I say with a grin as I walk backwards into the cafeteria.

It isn’t until later that night when I’m helping Allison pick out a jacket that I bring up the fact that I am also attending the party tonight. She seems surprised, but agrees to help me with my hair. I’ve decided to forego my usual messy bun in case I need to run damage control with Scott, so I’ve got it up in an elegant twist that can be easily pulled out with a single tug. I’ve paired it with a red baby doll dress and knee length brown leather boots that I hide two daggers in. I doubt that I’ll need them, but it is better to be safe than sorry – especially on the full moon. Scott gets there first, and is just pulling away with Allison in the car when I remember the dream I had last night about Chris and his men getting hurt as they hunt down Scott. I can’t think of a way to warn him to be careful without tipping him off to my knowledge, so I settle for what I hope in an innocuous joke when I hear Stiles’ jeep pull up in the driveway.  
“Be careful tonight, the full moon brings out the crazy in people,” I say in a joking tone as I walk out the door, “and don’t worry, I’ll make sure Allison keeps it pg tonight.”

We’ve not even been at the party for five minutes when I spot the other beta watching Scott like a creeper from the back fence. I tell Stiles to find us some water bottles and make my way over to him.  
“Well hello there creepy older man who is staring at my friend like a crazy murderer,” I say. He must have been focusing heavily on Scott as he jumps when he hears me address him, “you seem a bit old for this party.” He gives me his best glare before his face suddenly snaps up towards Scott. I look over just in time to see him clutching his head and running out with a bewildered Allison trailing after him. Turning back to my left I see that the other Beta is gone so I run after Allison whilst trying to think up an excuse for Scott but I get there too late, she is getting in the other beta’s car with him as I reach the front yard.  
“Is that – Lissa, was that Allison getting in Derek Hale’s car just now?” Stiles asks from directly behind me. I jump and whirl around to face him.  
“I don’t know who that other guy is, but yes Allison just got in his car. Chris is going to kill me for letting her get in a car with a stranger!” I’m furious at myself for not getting to her in time, I know that Chris and Victoria don’t want Allison or me knowing about the family business just yet, “Scott just ran off and I suppose he must have forgotten that he’s her ride home. He looked like he was in pain, does he have food poisoning or something?” I give Stiles an easy excuse, which he will hopefully go with. I know that Scott will look peaky tomorrow after his first full moon, so food poisoning is a believable lie.  
“Well, I did cook for us earlier tonight, so he probably does. Come to think of it, that chicken was a little bit pink,” thankfully he takes the easy out, “can you explain to Allison that he got sick and didn’t actually want to ditch her? I’ll drive you home.” Stiles is distracted for the rest of the way back to my house, but I understand why so I don’t push him for conversation. He insists on walking me to my door when we arrive and apologising for Scott to Allison in person, but I suspect that he just wants to make sure that she got home safely so I tell him that I’ll handle it and I’ll message him to let him know that she got home in one piece.

After he leaves, I grab a tub of mint ice cream from the freezer and head up to Allison’s room to help sell the lie.  
“Knock, knock. It’s just me,” I say as I open her door, “I come bearing ice cream.”  
“Do you think it was me? I mean, he just bolted suddenly out of nowhere!” she is obviously upset at the ruined first date.  
“Nah, Stiles said he cooked dinner for them tonight. I’m surprised he lasted that long, he probably feels horrible that he had to leave you so suddenly. Stiles was starting to look a bit crook too when he dropped me off. He wanted to come and apologise for ruining your night but I told him not to worry about it - oops!” I am about to pull out my phone to message him when my ringtone starts playing, “That’ll be him now. I forgot to message him – Hey stiles! No, she’s here with me. Sorry I forgot to message you, we got distracted by ice cream.” I can practically feel his relief down the line as I confirm that we’re both okay.  
“Okay, good. Let her know that I’m with Scott now and he’s throwing up. It’s not pretty,” I can hear the shower running in the background and I agree to pass on the message as he hangs up.  
“That was Stiles. I could hear Scott in the background throwing up, totally gross by the way, thank goodness he got home before throwing up on you!” We both share a laugh before yawning suddenly.

The ice cream is all gone, so we say goodnight and head to bed. I’m just about to fall asleep when I realise the significance of the other beta's name - he is one of the last three remaining Hale's. Maybe getting information from the Hale family isn't such a good option anymore. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No new abilities for Lissa in this chapter.   
> So! Lissa has finally figured out who the other beta is. Now she just needs to figure out how to tell Scott that she knows his secret.


	4. Wail's of lament

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's a bit of a filler chapter, sorry.  
> I feel like we need to see Lissa struggling to get a hold on her powers. 16 is a big age for sirens in my story, it's when they reach a whole new level of powers, and there'll be some surprises in store on her birthday. Over the coming months leading up to her birthday, she'll continue to struggle to maintain control.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *note* Possible trigger in this chapter - self harm.  
> When Lissa goes into the bathroom stall there is a small amount of self harm involved. You can skip over the paragraph and still understand the story-line.  
> The paragraph starts with "Sliding down to the floor", you can pick up again at "Lissa? Lissa, it's Allison."  
> I know that self-harm is not a solution to problems, and so does Lissa. She isn't in her right mind when she does this, and it won't be a recurring theme throughout this story. I don't plan to use it again, but all chapters that have it will have this warning at the beginning.

Scott and Stiles are deep in conversation the next morning when I get to my locker and don’t notice me arriving behind them. I’m about to tap Scott’s shoulder when I overhear him whispering to Stiles about last night, so I decide to discretely listen in while I pretend to be looking over my biology notes with my head in my locker. Luckily my hearing is almost as acute as a werewolf’s thanks to my siren blood, and I am more practiced in being discrete with my spying.  
“So he shot you then? With a crossbow?” Stiles whispers to Scott.  
“Yea. It’s healed now, but it still hurt. Stiles, what am I going to do? Allison’s father wants to kill me! What if he recognises me? I am freaking out here!” Scott slams his locker door shut and I jump with a small gasp, I wasn't expecting a loud noise and my ear is now ringing.  
“Lissa? How long have you been standing there for?” Stiles asks me cautiously. I look up slowly with a well-practiced mask of concentration on my face.  
“Huh? Oh, a couple of minutes. You guys looked like you were having a serious bro-moment, so I was just going over my notes before class today. I want to make sure I’m completely caught up to where you guys are, the syllabus here is a little different to the one at my last school. You okay after last night, Scott? Stiles said he gave you food poisoning.” I add in the tiniest of siren compulsion so that the boys believe me, and within seconds the boys both visibly calm down.  
“Yea, I’m alright now. Don’t let him cook for you though, I don’t know how Sheriff is still alive after all of these years,” Scott replies with a slightly forced smile.  
“Wait, you do the cooking at home? What about your mum? Or is she a worse cook than you are?” I joke to Stiles, but I can see that I have hit a nerve. Both boys have lost their joking manner from a moment ago and Stiles looks like I just kicked his favorite puppy before he walks off. I’m about to run after him to apologise when Scott stops me.  
“Lissa, Stiles’ mum – well, it’s just him and his dad. She passed away when we were little kids. He’ll be okay, just stay away from the mum jokes, okay?”  
“Shit, Scott. I didn't know, I’m so sorry! I've never really had parents, so I joke about them a lot. I didn't mean any harm, I swear!” I’m already feeling guilty for having used compulsion on the only two people in this town who I’d really consider friends, and this has just brought forth a whole new level of grief. I can feel a song of lament bubbling up inside me, and I know I have to get my emotions under control for the safety of not only myself but everyone around me. I don’t dare make a noise, so I shoot an apologetic look at Scott before ducking into the toilets across the hallway and locking the door behind me.

Sliding down to the floor I bring my legs up to my chest and curl into the foetal position. I can feel the ends of my fingers sharpening into claws, and I dig them into my stomach as I try to contain the wail that is hovering in my throat. A tiny whimper escapes me but I slam my teeth together to keep my mouth shut. Focusing on the pain in my stomach brings back some clarity to my mind, so I retract my claws and jab them in again. A tiny part of my mind is thinking that this isn't a healthy way to deal with this but it is so small that I pay it no attention. A soft knock on the toilet door brings me swiftly back to reality and I begin to panic as I realise what nearly happened.  
“oc-occupied,” I gasp out, glad when I hear that no trace of the siren call is in my voice, “this one’s occupied.”

“Lissa? Lissa, its Allison. You didn't come to Biology, Scott said you might be in here. Have you been in here all morning?” An hour? I've been in here an hour? It barely feels like five minutes have past. I look down and see that my blood has dripped down into the lining of my black jeans and am thankful that it won’t be noticeable, but I need to wash this blood off me before anyone sees it.  
“I’m fine Allison, it’s just really bad cramps,” my voice is still raspy and I’m grateful that it sounds like I’m in pain, “I just need a couple of minutes, I’ll be okay.”  
“Lissa, you don’t sound okay. I’m going to go get the nurse, alright? You just stay there.” I wait for the door to open and close before jumping up and rushing over to the basin. I’m a mess. My face is white as a sheet, and my stomach is covered in blood. I grab some hand towels and quickly clear off most of the blood before zipping up my hoodie to cover the rest. I’m just splashing water on my face when the door opens and Allison walks in with the school nurse. I know that I’ll have a better chance at being sent home if I pretend to be in pain but ready to soldier on, so I put the rasp back in my voice and slowly turn around.  
“I told you I’m fine, Al. It’s just cramps. They’ll pass soon.”  
“Your foster sister say’s that you've been in here for an hour now, is that correct?” the nurse asks. I let my face twitch slightly in pain before grimacing slightly, “I hadn't realised how much time had passed. It started just before the bell went, and I came in here to curl up and wait it out. Next thing I know, Allison was knocking on the stall door.”  
“Alright, I’m going to call your foster parents to come pick you up. You’re in no state to be at school today. Can you walk, or do you need assistance getting to my office?” I picture how it would look for me to be escorted to the nurse’s office and flush red in embarrassment,  
“no, I think I can manage thanks.” My stomach is still healing from the wounds I inflicted, so when I bend over to pick up my bag I let out a real gasp of pain and have to take a moment before standing up again, “On second thought, maybe Allison could carry my bag for me?” I ask the nurse.

The nurse rushes ahead of us to call Victoria and I get Allison to stop at my locker so I can grab the rest of my books. “Just because I’m at home for the day, doesn't mean I can’t get some work done,” I say at her inquisitive look. She just rolls her eyes and shoulders my bag as we slowly walk towards the front office.  
“If you’re feeling up to it, you should come to the game tomorrow. Lydia wants me to sit with her, she’s made signs for the team or something. Please sit with me so I don’t have to go through that alone!”  
“Alright, I’ll come. But someone needs to explain to me how the game actually works. I tried to learn it through books but it was too confusing. You know I’m not a sports person,” I agree as we reach the office. We’re barely there two minutes when the door opens and Victoria power walks through them.  
“Vasilissa! Are you alright? Allison, what are you doing here? You’re not sick too, are you?”  
“I’m fine, honestly! It’s just a bad cramp, and Allison was the one who found me in the toilets and got the nurse for me,” I explain as she picks up my bag, “I just need a heat bag and I’ll be okay. I got Allison to grab my school books for me so I won’t fall behind, either. Thank you Allison, I’ll see you after school. Can you tell Scott and Stiles that I’m okay?” I call back to Allison as Victoria ushers me out the front door but the door closes behind me before she can respond.

The drive back to the Argent’s house is silent, so I’m slightly startled when Victoria’s voice softly calls my name.  
“Vasilissa, I’m so sorry to do this but I’m going to have to leave you at home. I have a lot of errands to run today, but I’ll get you set up on the couch downstairs before I head off.”  
“I’ll be fine by myself, I’m sure. Don’t worry about me, I've been through worse – my foster parents usually leave me at the school until the end of the day. Honestly, I can get myself set up if you have places that you need to be.”  
“Nonsense. That may be how things have gone in the past, but the Argent women believe in family above all else, and we protect our own. I've always got time for you, Vasilissa. I know we’re not your real family, but I want you to feel at home in our house. After Allison, I found out I couldn't have any more children, and I've always wanted two daughters. I would never want to replace your real mother, but I hope that in time you can come to think of us as your family too.” I swear I can see a tear in her eye, but then she blinks and it’s gone.  
“Thank you Victoria. I do feel at home in your house. It means a lot to hear you say that,” and I honestly mean it. When I first came to live with the Argents, I thought that they had taken me in because they suspected something of me so I spent the first couple of weeks being very guarded. It wasn't until I realised that Allison didn't even know about the family business that I finally started to warm up towards Chris and Victoria, and in this moment I regret doubting their intentions towards me.

I’m so lost in my musing that I haven’t noticed Victoria bringing me inside and sitting me down on the couch, it’s the warm touch of the heat bag being gently placed on my stomach that brings me back and I tear up a little thinking of the kindness that this woman has shown me – not because of any charm that I've projected but because she genuinely cares about me.  
“Is it too hot?” She asks, obviously mistaking my tears as distress, and I feel the need to clarify that it’s not the reason for my tears.  
“No, sorry. I’m just … thank you. For everything. It means a lot to me what you said today.”  
“Right, well. Call me if you need anything, I should be home around four this afternoon.” And with that she is out the door, obviously having used up her emotional quota for the day. Victoria Argent may be a kind, caring mother, but she is not very good at expressing herself in the traditional ways.

 

* * *

 

I must have dozed off at some stage during the afternoon, because I am woken by a conversation in the study. “Obviously Hale is one of the betas, but he’s not going to give up any information. We _need_ to catch the second beta.”  
“I know. If we don’t have him in a week, I’m going to call in the cavalry. For now, though, I don’t want to disrupt the girls again. Figure out who it is, Chris. We can keep this one in house.” I hear the door open, so I even out my breathing and shift slightly. Victoria comes over to wake me and I slowly open my eyes and yawn.  
“Did I fall asleep? What time is it?”  
“It’s nearly 5pm, head upstairs and get ready for dinner.” I pass Chris in the hall and nod a hello to him as I stifle another yawn, and I make sure to keep an ear trained on him as I move about upstairs to listen to his conversation with Victoria. They make no more mention of werewolves, other than to confirm that neither thinks I overheard their conversation. The television turns on and I listen to the news as I change out of my bloody clothes and stuff them in the bottom of my school bag – I’ll have to throw them out in the dumpster behind the school next week – and I hear Derek Hale’s name mentioned. Someone found half a body buried near his house, and he’s being charged with murder. Someone must have muted the television, because the sound cuts out and all I can hear is the clinking of cutlery being set out on the table.

“So, the first lacrosse game of the season is tomorrow. Lydia asked if Lissa and I will sit with her and cheer the team on, is that alright with you guys?” Allison asks as we’re clearing the dishes from the table, “her boyfriend is on the team, and she wants someone to help her hold the signs.”  
“Sure, that’s fine. Why don’t I come along too? I’d love to meet some of your school friends.”  
“Dad! You’re not going to be embarrassing, are you?” Allison is clearly less than impressed with the idea of her father tagging along. It suddenly occurs to me that Scott will be playing tomorrow, and if he does anything unusual Chris is sure to notice. I can already feel the self-loathing coming on at what I’m about to do, but I have to protect my new friend. He has no idea what’s coming for him, and he deserves to at least have a fighting chance. I inject the tiniest amount of compulsion into my voice as I look back at Chris and Victoria,  
“I’m sure the two of us will be fine out there tomorrow. Besides, there’ll be plenty more games to go see in the future. Maybe you could let this one slide so that Allison at least has a chance to make friends before you scare them all away? I've met some of them and they seem really nice.” I can tell that Victoria is still a bit skeptical, but Chris agrees to let us go by ourselves if we do the dishes and Allison is overjoyed at the news. By the time I go to bed later that night, I've managed to convince myself that I was justified in persuading Chris with my talents.

 

* * *

 

It’s game day and I’m in my room studying my guide book when Allison bounces into my room.

“What subject you working on?” she asks as she sits down on my desk chair. Obviously I can’t tell her that I’m reading up about different aura colours and their meanings, so I glance at the textbook that I have open on my bed. To anyone who isn’t a siren, this guide book will look like an ordinary dictionary. It’s a clever bit of Fairy magic that my ancestors had placed on the book. 

“Biology. I just wanted to check the meaning of some words I wasn’t sure about. But you don’t want to talk school work, do you?”  
“Thanks for getting dad to back off about the game last night. You certainly have a way with words.” I know that she doesn’t mean anything by it but the reminder that I used my talents on Chris makes me squirm with guilt so I quickly change the subject.  
“Yea, well, your dad is super perceptive. I figured you wouldn’t want him to notice you watching player number 11 instead of the game today. Speaking of a certain boy, what are you wearing tonight?”

My subject change works and I can mostly tune out as Allison weighs the pros and cons of three different outfits before finally deciding on wearing the first one she picked out. We’re about to head out the door when she finally notices what I’m wearing.  
“Really, Lissa? You’re not going to dress up at all? That’s the same thing you’ve been wearing all day, and it’s a weekend – why don’t you let your hair down for once? You have such pretty hair, but you never do anything with it!”  
“I just don’t like wearing my hair down, okay? Besides, it’s just a lacrosse game and I’m not dressing to impress anyone.” She crosses her arms and I know that we’re in for an intense stare down that won’t end until one of us caves.  
“Fine! I’ll get changed. But I’m leaving my hair up! It’s going to be windy on the bleachers, and I don’t want to have to brush out all of the knots later!” I call as I race back upstairs. I change into a pair of black skinny jeans and a floral top that’s longer at the back, with my favourite knee length boots and purple fingerless gloves, before shrugging on a jacket and rushing back downstairs.  
“If we miss kick-off, or whatever it’s called, because you made me change, then you get to deal with Lydia’s wrath,” I only half joke as I walk past her and out the open door.

 

* * *

 

The game is almost over, and I still don’t understand how it works. No-one has passed a single shot to Scott all game either, and I can tell that he’s getting angry. Lydia keeps making Allison help her hold up a ‘We <3 you Jackson’ sign, and I can tell that it’s causing him to get angry. There’s less than five minutes left in the game and I can tell that he’s listening in so I start chanting under my breath ' _come on Scott, ignore her. Ignore Lydia. She’s egging you on, she’s baiting you. Ignore Lydia, get your head in the game. Come on Scott, stay calm, stay focused_.' It seems to work as he all of a sudden steals the ball from an opposing team member and makes a goal. The next few minutes though show that he is most definitely _not_ in control, as his moves become increasingly impossible. I’m suddenly glad that I convinced Chris to stay home, as Scott is clearly using his supernatural abilities to perform this well. There’s mere seconds on the clock when Scott makes a final shot at goal that rips through the goalies net and brings our team out into the lead. Coach is ecstatic, but I shoot a concerned look towards Scott and Stiles as they rush off the field together.

“Hey, where did Scott go?” Allison seems to have been caught up in the post-game hype with Lydia, as she didn't see Scott running off the field. I know how dangerous he is at this moment, so I’m frantically trying to think of an excuse to not go looking for him when Lydia says “who cares? Come on, let’s go congratulate the team!” I’m distracted by the mass of people swarming onto the field, so I don’t notice that Allison has gone missing until it’s too late.  
“ALLISON?” I scream into the crowd, hoping that we've just been separated by the mass of students, “ALLISON!”  
“Oh, relax. She went after lover boy, they’re in the locker room. Geez.”  
“Thanks Lydia!” I call back to her as I jog towards the school.  
I’m just about to reach the locker rooms when Allison walks out with a big smile on her face.  
“There you are, good. Come on, let’s go home.”

Well, she clearly wasn't harmed by a wolfed-out Scott. I wonder what happened in there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Siren powers:  
> Enhanced senses - this seems to be a common one with all of the supernatural creatures in the Teen Wolf world, so I thought I should add it in here for a bit of continuity.  
> Claws: Ends of her fingers turn into talon-like claws when her emotions get out of hand, particularly when she is angry. In this chapter she is angry at herself.  
> Sneak peek at next chapter: "I kissed him! And Stiles was watching. Oh my god, Stiles was watching us make out. Is that weird?"


	5. Kate comes to town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lissa reads up on banshees and then tests out her new knowledge on Lydia, Kate rolls into town, and Derek rocks up at school.   
> Will Lissa be able to help him?   
> Will Scott and Stiles finally be clued in to her knowledge?   
> Read on to find out ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a bit of a short one because I wanted to leave you guys with a cliff hanger.   
> Don't worry, all will be revealed in the next chapter!

We’re listening to music on the way home when the news headlines are read out on the radio, and I’m startled to hear that not only was the body found that of Derek Hale’s older sister, but that the death was ruled as an accident. The police haven’t issued an apology to Derek for wrongful imprisonment though, so I am left wondering if there isn’t more to the story. I turn the radio down low and look at Allison expectantly, she’s still grinning from ear to ear and hasn’t said a word since we got in the car.  
“Well? What happened back there? I turned around and you were gone then the next thing I know you’re coming out of the locker room with sex hair and a smug grin plastered on your face.”  
Allison raises a hand self-consciously to her hair before turning to me and finally letting me in on the secret, “I kissed him! And Stiles was watching. Oh my god, Stiles was watching us make out, is that weird?”  
“Al, its Stiles and Scott. They were probably celebrating the win when they heard you coming in and Stiles hid,” I explain, “and then stayed around so that he could congratulate Scott on finally making a move. Boys are weird like that.”    
“Speaking of boys … is there something going on with you and Stiles that I should know about?” Allison hints as we pull up to the house.  
“What? No. He’s in love with a certain miss Lydia Martin, but I didn’t tell you that,” I explain as I get out of the car. The thought of dating Stiles hasn’t even entered my mind before Allison brought it up, and I look back over all of our interactions to see if it could be construed as anything other than platonic. I shake my head at the ridiculousness of the notion and take my guide book out of my bag as I close my bedroom door.

Lydia seems to be oblivious of her banshee nature, and the colour of her aura seems to indicate that it’s a latent ability, but I decided during the game tonight that I should read up on banshees in case the ability ever manifests itself. Thinking to myself _Banshees and their powers_ , I open up my book to the first page and begin to read.

  * _The banshee is a female spirit, usually seen as an omen of death, is a messenger from the underworld. The woman begins to wail or shriek when someone is about to die, and can often feel the presence of Death when in the room with one who is about to die._
  * _A branch of the Fairy family, the banshee is able to resist compulsion from other Fae creatures; she is often able to see through trickery caused by them as well._
  * _It is rumoured that prolonged exposure to the banshee’s cry is fatal to tree nymphs and druids, but there are no confirmed reports of death by this cause._
  * _When a banshee is born of a diluted bloodline, their powers will often not fully manifest unless triggered by a supernatural event. If this is the case, the banshee will often have a sixth sense that tells when she is near another supernatural creature, but will be unable to interpret it and will often ignore the feeling._
  * _A banshee’s cry has no effect on a fully formed siren, but particularly powerful banshees have been known to nullify a child-siren’s power with their cry. If you suspect you are in the presence of a hostile banshee, it is best to refrain from exposing what you are._
  * _Banshees cannot sense the presence of other Fae creatures._



I close my book with a sigh. Great, yet another reason to not let anyone know what I am. Lydia doesn’t seem to like me, so I’m not sure whether that classes her as hostile or not. A stabbing pain in my shoulders jolts me out of my reverie and I realise that I’ve been hunched over my book for two hours now. I roll the kinks out of my shoulders and back and start to get ready for bed.

 

* * *

 

Walking up to school on Monday I can sense that someone on campus is on their deathbed. I have to fight down the urge to sing the feeble soul towards me, the siren in me is crying out for a male to bring to their death. I follow the pull towards the man and come across a scene that makes my heart stop. Someone, no, some _thing_ has attacked one of the school buses. Scott bumps into me as he rushes back inside, and Stiles comes to stand right in front of me. “Lissa! Where’s Allison? Is she okay?” I’m confused by how frantic his questions are, “Yea, she’s probably at her lockers. Why? What happened?” but Stiles is already racing off after Scott before I’ve finished speaking.  
“Something attacked the bus last night, they think it was a mountain lion,” Danny says from behind me, “there was someone inside, and they’re trying to work out how to safely get him out.” So that explains the near-dead soul I can feel calling to me from inside the bus. I look over and see Lydia looking at the bus, but she appears to be disgusted more than anything. “Gross, I’m so glad I don’t take the bus. Those things are disgusting enough already.” She states before spinning on her heel and strutting off.  
“Come on Danny, we’d better get to class. I still have to drop my books off to my locker,” I say as I slowly turn and follow Lydia into the school.

I’ve just sat down next to Stiles when I hear the thud of several other trays hitting the same table. Looking up I see Danny smiling at me, as Lydia asks Stiles a question. Wait, what? Lydia is talking to Stiles? This day just keeps getting weirder. Somehow Lydia decides that she and Jackson are tagging along on Scott and Allison’s date, so I decide to test what I read about banshees the other day.  
“I think it was meant to be a date with just the two of them, Lydia.” I state, unleashing the full force of my siren voice on her, whilst mentally I am willing her to agree with me and decide not to go. She not only isn’t affected by my mental command but also looks offended at the suggestion of her not being invited. I look around and can see that I’ve used too much power as everyone on the table seems to be agreeing with me.  
“Well that’s nonsense. If you want an invite, just ask Lissa. You don’t have to spoil it for everyone else. You and Stiles can come too. So, what are we doing? How about bowling?” I look to Stiles, hoping to find him ready to agree that this is a stupid plan, but he is staring at Lydia with a goofy smile on my face and I realise that there’s no way out of going tonight.

 

* * *

 

Lydia and I are getting Allison ready for tonight when my final hope for a way out of tonight arrives in the form of Chris Argent. I watch as he tells us that we aren’t going out as there is a curfew in place and Allison agrees with him, but as soon as he leaves the room my hopes are dashed as she informs us that we’re sneaking out. I’m forced to climb out the window and shimmy down the vines on the wall as Allison does a ridiculous gymnastics flip from the second story and Lydia says that she’ll take the stairs.  
“I get it that it’ll be a bit awkward for you tonight, but why are you so against us going bowling?” Allison asks me as we’re waiting for Lydia to meet us out the front.  
“I’ve, uh, I’ve never actually gone bowling before,” I finally admit, “I don’t even know how to do it.”  
“Don’t worry, you’ll pick it up easily enough.”

It turns out that I’m not the only one that’s horrible at bowling. Stiles is just as bad as I am, and we end up turning it into a game as we try not to make every throw a gutter ball. We’re laughing so hard that at one stage Stiles actually falls off his chair while I’m having my turn, which earns him one of Jackson’s famous glares. By the end of the night Stiles has beaten me by two points with a score of 51, and I’ve decided that maybe tonight wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

We manage to sneak inside without attracting the attention of Chris and Victoria, who appear to be in a hushed argument in the kitchen. Allison opens up her door and we creep to the top of the stairs in time to see Chris about to walk out the front door with a duffel bag in hand.  
“Dad? What’s going on?” Allison asks concernedly, “Is everything ok?”  
“Everything’s fine girls. Kate just got into town, and she’s having some car trouble.” He calls up to us, “Just a flat tire” then he’s out the front door before we can ask any more questions and Victoria is sending us to bed.

I’m woken up the next morning by Kate and Allison squealing, and I roll my eyes as I get up and grab my hairbrush. I know that it is horrible of me to think it, but I’m hoping that Kate isn’t planning on staying in town for long. She is really perceptive and I am concerned that if she figures out what I am she won’t hesitate to put me down. I manage to make it through the rest of my morning rituals without seeing her, but as I’m making my lunch in the kitchen she comes in after me.  
“Hey there kiddo. Still with us, I see.” I’m unsure what to say to that, so I just smile at her before opening the fridge and grabbing out an apple. “I’m exploring around town this afternoon so I won’t be here when you girls get back from school this afternoon, but we are going to have a girls night soon, and I want to hear all about this Scott from you, ok?” I know she’s only trying to be friendly, but something about her unnerves me, “Sure, sounds fun. Make sure you get some popcorn, though. We’ll put a movie in and make a night of it.” I smile again as I walk past her to put my lunch in my bag.

 

* * *

 

I’m in my last class of the day when I feel the call of a dying man again, and it’s coming towards me. Feigning stomach cramps I grab my books and bolt out of the classroom, only to see Derek Hale slamming Jackson up against the lockers. I don’t even have to use my enhanced hearing to listen to their conversation.  
“Where. Is. Scott. McCall?” he grinds out, looking like every word is causing him immense pain.  
“Look, I don’t know what you’re selling him, but you might want to lay off sampling the product. You look like hell, man” Jackson scoffs, and I can’t help but agree with him. Derek looks like he is about to pass out and he smells like decaying flesh. He slams Jackson into the locker and is about to stumble down the hallway when he looks up and sees me watching.  
“Well hey there good looking,” I joke, “If you’re looking for Scott, class is about to get out so he’ll most likely be heading to Stiles’ blue Jeep in the parking lot. If you give me two minutes to grab my things from my locker, I’ll take you to him.” Derek is already stumbling towards the front entrance, so I hurry over to my locker before following him out.

By the time I get to the parking lot, the bell has rung and students are pouring out the front doors. I can see a commotion up ahead that has caused a traffic jam and head towards it, correctly assuming that this is where I’ll find Derek. Scott and Stiles are arguing while Derek is lying on the road and as he looks in my direction I am shocked to see his eyes flash electric blue.

“Stiles!” I call as I run up to Derek, “Help me get him in your cap. We need to get him out of here.” It suddenly becomes easier to lift him up and I look over to see that Scott is helping me lift him up.  
“Wait, you know this guy?” Stiles asks me, “You know Derek Hale? How do you know Derek Hale?”  
“That’s irrelevant right now,” I pant, exhausted from getting Derek up and into the backseat of Stiles’ jeep, “right now we need to get him out of here.” I glance back and see that Derek is looking at me in confusion as his fangs protrude and his eyes flash again. “We need to get him out of here before someone sees him shift.”  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New siren powers: no new powers, but we get to see a bit more of how Lissa's guide book works.


	6. The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys figure out that Lissa knows their big secret. They want answers, and they want them now.

“Wait, what?” Scott and Stiles exchange a confused glance, “you know about … about _werewolves?_ ”   
“Yes, Scott, and I promise I’ll explain everything later but right now we need to get him away from here!”   
Derek reaches out and grabs Scott’s arm, “Find the bullet.”   
“Ok. Get out of here.”   
We make it about three miles away from the school before Stiles pulls over to the side of the road. “Explain. Now.”

I sigh, “Ok, I’ve known about werewolves since before I moved here. You guys have figured out that Allison’s family are hunters, right?” I glance over at them for confirmation, “right, well, I’m not one. When they first picked me up from the halfway house, I figured they knew that I knew, and they were taking me to make sure I didn’t spill the beans, but after a few weeks it became pretty obvious that they had no idea. Allison doesn’t know about all of this, and I get the feeling that they want it to stay that way. Likewise, I would rather it if they didn’t find out about my knowledge.” I know that I have to be careful with my answers, because Derek will be listening to my heartbeat to see if I’m lying to them.   
“How did you find out about us?” he asks me.   
“I’ve come across your kind before. Look, the point is that I’m in the know. Now what the hell happened to you Derek? You look and smell like death.”   
“I got shot with a poison bullet, by Allison’s aunt. Scott needs to find the bullet so I can find out what poison they used. If the poison reaches my heart, I’m dead.”   
“Ok, nice and succinct. Stiles, drive. We need to get somewhere less visible. I’m going to call Allison and tell her that I’m studying at yours this afternoon, otherwise she’ll be wondering where I am.”   
“I know just the place,” Stiles says as he turns the car back on and starts to drive away.

After a quick conversation with Allison, I hang up and call Scott. I tell him where Chris keeps the ammunition, and promise him an explanation tomorrow. Stiles steals the phone from me and tells him to hurry up, before I steal it back and hang up. We’re driving through the preserve before Derek speaks again. "Stiles, where are we going?”   
“Your house, where else am I supposed to take you?” he replies.   
“Stiles, we can’t go to my house. It’s bound to be crawling with hunters by now, they know where I live. If you take me there, I die. I can’t defend myself right now.” I’m cursing myself for not having any weapons on me right now while Stiles calls Scott back and asks where he should take Derek.

I realise that we need to slow down the spreading of the poison, so I crawl into the back seat next to Derek. “Don’t lash out, okay? I really hope this isn't your favorite top.” I say as I rip off a strip from the bottom of it, “I’m going to make a tourniquet for your arm, to try and stop the poison from spreading.”   
Tying the tourniquet onto his arm proves to be difficult as the road is bumpy through the reserve, so I wait until we’re back on town roads before tying the cloth as tightly as I can around his arm. I look up and scoff as I see where Scott told Stiles to take us. “The animal clinic? Really? Derek, I think he’s trying to say something,” I try to joke, but Derek is obviously past the point of joking.

 

* * *

 

We've been sitting in the back room of the empty animal clinic for hours when Scott finally messages Stiles back with the name of the poison: ‘Nordic Monkshood’. I look up at Derek with shock as I realise what this means, “Stiles, tell Scott that he needs to bring a bullet here. Now. Derek doesn't have much time left, we need that bullet.” Derek looks to me with suspicion before turning to Stiles and agreeing.   
“You know what to do?” he asks me.   
“Yes. Good thing I have a lighter in my bag. Stiles, I need you to get me my bag, I left it in your car.” I know I don’t have one in my bag, but I need to send Stiles out of the room. Once I hear the door close, I turn around to face Derek.   
“You’re lying. There’s no lighter in your bag,” he says, as he pulls one out of his pocket.   
“I know, I needed to get rid of him. Look, I've come across this before, I know what to do. Do you have a contingency plan? In case Scott doesn't get here in time?” I ask him in hurried whispers, “Because the only other solution I know to burning it out is to cut off the limb, and I’d really rather avoid that.”   


He’s about to reply to me when he suddenly lurches away and vomits up a fountain of black liquid.   
“Ugh, gross. Here, take your bag. Scott’s on his way.” Stiles says as he walks in the room.   
“Thanks Stiles, can you clean this up? I need to find some stuff in these drawers, there should be cleaning equipment around here somewhere.” I find what I’m looking for in the third draw that I open, and hold it up with a discreet nod towards Derek before placing it back in the drawer and grabbing out some blue string. “This should make a better tourniquet.”

The black lines are slowly snaking their way up Derek’s arm as we wait anxiously for Scott to get here. I’m just about to give up and pull out the bone-saw when he bursts in through the back door.   
“Oh, thank god. What took you so long? Never mind, where is it?” I command, before hearing a thud as Derek falls off the examination table and onto the floor. Stiles is freaking out, and is about to try to wake him up again when I shout “STOP! It’s probably best if he’s not conscious for this. Scott, I need you to bite off the end of that bullet.”

Scott carefully bites off the end of the bullet and hands it to me. I tip the contents out of the bullet before grabbing Derek’s lighter from my pocket and setting it on fire. While it is still smoking I scoop the remains into my hands and crouch down next to Derek, “sorry” I whisper, before shoving the powder into his open wound. He comes to with a loud gasp of pain as he lurches up and reaches for the first thing he sees. His panicked mind is registering that he is injured and is reaching out to neutralize the imminent threat. It takes him a few seconds, but I can see the moment that he comes back to reality as the electric blue leaves his eyes, being replaced by the dark chocolate color that they usually are. He looks down and sees me crouching deathly still, with his claws still penetrating the flesh of my upper arm. “Ouch,” I hiss, as he withdraws his claws, “that’s going to hurt in the morning.” But my more pressing concern is covering up the wound before the boys can see my accelerated healing. I will my healing to slow down as much as possible, but I can still feel my skin slowly trying to stitch itself back together.

Derek and Scott are arguing, so I use the distraction to go over to the sink and dab away the excess blood before dressing the wound with supplies that are laid out on the bench. Derek storms out with Scott in tow, and I’m left with Stiles who is standing there looking a bit lost. I clear my throat to get his attention.   
“Um, if you don’t mind, I think I’d better be getting home now.” I say as I bend over and pick up my bag with my good arm. Now that it’s covered, I can feel my accelerated healing knitting the skin back together – in half an hour there won’t even be a mark on my skin.   
“Okay, I’ll take you home. But how are you going to explain that to the Argents?” Stiles questions as he finishes cleaning up the mess we made, “I doubt saying that you got injured by the werewolf that Kate shot last night as you brought him back to life will go down very well with them.”   
I look down and curse the fact that I wore a short-sleeved top today, before looking back at Stiles as an idea hits me. “Hey Stiles,” I ask, “Can I borrow your hoodie? They already know that I was with you, so I’ll just say that I got cold and borrowed one of your hoodies. You can have it back tomorrow, promise.”   
“Okay, but not this one,” he agrees, “I've got another one in my car. This one’s my favorite, I don’t want you getting blood all over it.” I laugh as I follow him out to the car. Guess I’ll be wearing long sleeved shirts and jumpers over the next couple of days to hide that I’m already healed from Scott and Stiles.

 

Kate is watching out the window as we pull up to the house, so I make sure to lean over and hug Stiles before saying “thanks for helping me catch up with that assignment, Stiles.” I turn around to open the door and add “Kate can lip read, she’s watching us” before getting out of the car and waving as he drives away.

 

* * *

 

I manage to avoid the boys for most of the day as I’m really not looking forward to this talk, but they corner me at the end of home economics, and I agree to meet them out at the lacrosse field at lunchtime to explain everything. They wanted to do it in the cafeteria but I gave them a blank stare before reminding them that they weren't the quietest of people, so being around other people whilst talking about the supernatural was a sure fire way for the secret to get out. What I don’t tell them is that I had a dream last night where we were talking about it in the cafeteria, and Jackson and Danny overheard the whole conversation. I’d packed extra food this morning because I knew that we needed to have this talk outside.

 

I meet the boys on the bleachers at the start of lunch by offering them both a sandwich, before saying “Ok. i’m going to talk while you guys eat, then you can ask me questions while I eat my lunch. Sound fair?” The boys agree, so I take a deep breath to steady myself before launching into the explanation that I worked through last night.   
“So, I first became aware that things weren't completely normal in the world when I was about 10 years old. It was lust little things, like wounds healing quicker than they should, conversations being overheard that couldn't possibly be heard by a normal person. At first, I thought it was some sort of government conspiracy. The government wanted us to know that foster kids were different to normal kids, so they’d planted microphones around the house, or something stupid like that. Then, I met my mum. She came looking for me shortly after my 11th birthday, and she told me all about the world of the supernatural. It is because of supernatural creatures that she can’t raise me, there’s so much more out there than just werewolves – you have no idea. Anyway, she gave me this book, it’s full of information on supernatural creatures and their abilities. She said it was blessed by fairies so no one else could read it and that no matter what, I was never to lose that book. Since then, I've come across all kinds of magical creatures over the last few years. A few days before I was sent back to the halfway house, my foster brother was killed by hunters. He was an alpha werewolf, and he did some stupid stuff, but he didn't deserve to die. He was cut in half.” I have to take a break in my story here, as memories of my foster brother swim to the front of my mind. “Needless to say, my foster parents weren't really fit to raise me anymore after that, so I went back in the system. A week later, the Argents turned up to claim me. I thought they were there to off me because of what I knew, but I soon realised that they didn't suspect me of knowing anything. We came here because there’s a rogue alpha in the area, and we’ll probably move on again once it’s dealt with. But for now, I’m just trying to stay under their radar for as long as possible.”

I start eating my apple as the boys digest what I've told them. Predictably, Stiles is the first one with questions.   
“Wait, fairies are real?”   
“Yes, Stiles. They exist. There’s a member of the fairy family at this school, but no I’m not telling you who it is. I don’t think they even know what they are yet.”   
“Okay. You said your mum can’t raise you because of the supernatural? What is she?” Scott asks the one question that I've been dreading. I have to word this answer carefully, “It’s not so much what she is, but who she is surrounded by. My mum is surrounded by some vicious creatures, and if they got wind of where I am they’d want to raise me with their beliefs. I’m not a cruel person, and I don’t believe in hunting humans. I like to think that my mum doesn't either, but I honestly don’t know. She grew up with these ladies, and once I’m an adult they probably expect me to go live with them too. It’s not going to happen.”   
The boys take in my answer for a bit before coming up with their next question, “You said that there are other creatures out there – like what? Fairies are real, what else is? Do I need to worry about vampires sucking my blood?” Of course Stiles is the one to think of that question.   
“Yes vampires are a real thing, but you don’t need to worry about them. They've been hunted to near extinction, and the ones that are still around aren't killers. It’s only the newly created that you have to worry about, but after two or three weeks the blood-lust calms down. A vampire can drink its fill without killing you, and you won’t have any memory of it happening.” I explain, “Oh, and you can’t get turned by a bite, they don’t sparkle in the sun, and there’s no such thing as ‘vegetarian’ vampires with golden eyes.” I add as an afterthought.   
“You said your foster brother was killed by hunters?” Scott asks, and the joking atmosphere dies away, “Was it the Argents that did it? Does Allison know about all of this?”   
“It wasn't Chris, it was his sister Kate. I was hiding and I saw it happen. She’s cunning, Scott, and very smart. Don’t underestimate her.” The bell rings, and I get up to head back towards the school.   
“Wait, you didn't answer my other question – does Allison know?” Scott calls out after me.   
“No, Scott. Her parents don’t want her knowing about any of this. But if you’re serious about her, she’s going to figure out that something is up sooner or later.”

 

* * *

 

I’m looking around the cafeteria for Stiles and Scott when Danny comes up next to me at lunch time. “If you’re looking for Stiles, he jumped on the band wagon and left school too. Wanna sit together?” He says, before leading me over to his unusually empty table.   
“Wait, where is everyone?” I ask as I pull my lunch out of my bag.   
“Well, Allison and Scott ditched school today, Lydia didn't even show up, and Jackson came late before leaving ten minutes later with a bloody nose.” He explains, which leaves me more confused than before. Why did Allison skip? She never misses a class, and I know for a fact that she arrived at school today because she was my ride this morning.   
“Why is everyone skipping today?” I ask.   
“Lydia and Jackson got attacked by a mountain lion last night, so Lydia is probably taking the day off because she can and Jackson wouldn't tell me what’s wrong. He won’t talk to me about last night at all, actually.” Danny looks really upset by this and I realise that his friendship with Jackson is a lot stronger than it appears to the average bystander. “I’m not sure about your friends though. Stiles was here for a bit, but he left as soon as chemistry ended.”   
“Look, Jackson’s probably just in shock from last night, that’s all. Give him a day or two and I’m sure he’ll come around. If that doesn't work, try alcohol.” We laugh, but I was only half joking about the alcohol suggestion. I send a quick text to both boys, I’m fairly certain that it wasn't a mountain lion that attacked the video store last night.

I don’t get a reply from Stiles until during my Latin class that afternoon, simply saying _Explain later. Have you heard from Scott? Getting worried._ I reply back that Allison is also missing, so I’m pretty sure I know why they’re not responding. I’m about to put my phone away when the teacher reaches over and takes it from me. “You can have it back tonight at the parent teacher meeting” she says as she walks away. I stick my tongue out at her back before sighing and thinking about how I’m going to get home tonight. Allison and I were supposed to meet her parents at the school for the interviews tonight, so I decide to just stay in the library after school to kill time until 6pm.

 

* * *

 

“Although she could do with a reminder that phones are prohibited in my classroom,” my Latin teacher begins, “Miss Volkov is a very promising student. She’s tied for top position in my class, and if I didn't know any better I’d say that she was already fluent in the language before she moved here.” I hide a smirk as I think _if only you knew_. I discovered my ability to become fluent in any human language about three years ago. Once I’m exposed to the language, something in my brain just clicks and I can suddenly understand and speak it as though I were a native. I've had similar remarks from most of my teachers, and it isn't hard to guess who the student that I’m tied with for top position is. I wish I could see the look on her face when she finds out that there’s another secret genius in our year. Unfortunately, Allison hasn't had as lucky a night. Her English teacher mentioned that she hoped Allison was feeling better soon, and I had to admit that she’d skipped school for the day. Victoria is furious, and she cancels Allison’s birthday dinner tonight as a punishment.

“Well Lissa, we had no idea you were so smart,” Chris remarks as we’re making our way to the front doors, “we’ll have to come up with some sort of reward for your good grades.”

We’re walking out the front door when Scott’s mum comes up to Chris and Victoria and they start discussing their missing children. I can see Allison’s car pull up, so I excuse myself and go wait by Chris’ car. This is one fight I don’t want to be a part of. All of a sudden I hear people screaming and running towards the school. I turn towards the direction that they’re running from and scan for a dark purple aura but there’s nothing there. Suddenly a shot rings out, followed by a momentary silence and then a thud as someone gets run over.

I run towards the sounds and discover a dead mountain lion on the ground next to an unconscious Sheriff Stilinski.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, they know she knows now. This ought to make it a bit easier for her to keep an eye on them, but they still don't know her secret yet.   
> No new siren powers here, but we see a reappearance of the dreams, and we get to watch her advanced healing happen.


	7. The vision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lissa's latest vision reveals a startling truth but before she can act on it she ends up in hospital.  
> Jackson is a jerk, Scott is filled with teenage angst, Stiles flails and we get to see a cute Danny/Lissa interaction, plus Kate acting like a normal human being? Is that even possible?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Visions will be italicized, so you can separate a vision from the real-time story events.  
> Bonus points for anyone who can point out the Harry Potter reference in this chapter!

_Someone slams into a locker, and I whirl towards the sound. Jackson is breathing in Scott’s face against the lockers, and I’m … I’m over there, talking with Allison and Lydia? This must be another vision, but it’s the first one that I remember knowing it’s a vision and not reality. I walk over towards Jackson and Scott to hear their conversation._

_“I’m sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Scott looks clueless, but from Jackson’s smug expression I can tell that whatever he thinks he knows, it isn't going to be good._   
_“Yea, yea you do. And, uh, here’s the thing – however it is you came to be what you are, uh, you’re going to get it for me too.” Oh shit. Oh shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. How the hell did he figure it out? I need to figure out how far into the future this is. Looking back towards Allison and Lydia, I memorize what both girls are wearing, but pay no mind to my own outfit as it could change the outcome of this vision. As vision me glances over towards the boys with a knowing look and walks away, I tune back into the conversation._   
_“You’re going to get it for me, or uh, she’s going to find out about you too.” Jackson has turned Scott’s face towards Allison’s face, and I realise at once how dangerous this could be._

 

* * *

 

I wake up with a terrified scream, only to find that my body is in immense agony. My rib-cage feels like it is tearing itself in two, and I have a stabbing pain starting at my neck that’s reaching all the way down my arms, and across my upper back. My bedroom door bangs open as Chris, Victoria and Kate rush in, all carrying hand guns. By this stage, I’m sitting up and curled in on myself, with tears silently streaming down my face. Every sound is amplified and my brain feels like it’s pounding against my skull.

“What happened? Are you alright?” Seeing that there’s no immediate threat, they all tuck their weapons away, and Victoria approaches my bed slowly. I can tell that they’re not being loud, but for some reason I can’t turn off my enhanced hearing, and my brain goes into sensory overload.  
“Shhhh! Too loud!” I whimper pitifully, as every breath seems to drag at my lungs, “too loud. It hurts” and then I pass out.

When I next wake up, it is to the steady beeping of a heart monitor, and the steady breathing of someone else in the room. I gather from the antiseptic smell that I am in a hospital, and slowly open my eyes. The lights in the room are off, but my eyes are still sore from earlier so I shut them quickly. A few minutes later I try again and I am glad to notice that I can comfortably keep them open. Remembering that there is someone sleeping beside me, I slowly turn my head and am surprised to note that the person sleeping beside me is Kate Argent. I don’t want to wake her before I get the full story on what the doctor’s think happened, so I press the call button on the side of my bed. It takes a few minutes, but the door slowly opens and a nurse enters. Raising my finger slowly to my lips, I turn my head towards Kate again. The nurse seems to get the picture and bobs her head in acknowledgment, some of her tight brown curls falling over her face as she does. She grabs my chart from the door and makes her way over to my bed.

“What happened? Why am I here? How long have I been here for?” I ask her in hushed whispers.  
“Hello Vasilissa, my name is Melissa. You were brought in yesterday morning by your foster parents, you gave them quite a scare,” she responds, “you've been out for over a day. Have you ever had experience with migraines before?”  
“Please, call me Lissa, and no. is that what happened? I remember waking up with a splitting pain in my head, and then nothing.” A migraine. That’s new, I didn't realise we could get sick with common illnesses like that. I compartmentalize this information as the nurse checks over my vitals.  
“Lissa, hey? You wouldn't happen to be the Lissa that I overheard my son Scott talking about the other day, would you?” She asks me, “hopefully you’ll be well enough to be released tomorrow, but I’ll have to get a doctor in here to confirm. It looks like you just had a very bad migraine, as we couldn't find anything wrong with you medically. Were there any other symptoms? Or just the headache?”  
“Yea, that’s me. Hopefully I’ll be right by tomorrow. It’s Stiles’ first game. No, I just woke up and it felt like my brain was pounding against my skull. Everything was so loud, even breathing hurt” I’m interrupted by my own yawn, and I wince as a residual pang of pain crosses my forehead.    
“Alright, it all looks good here. I’ll go talk to the doctor, and I’ll let Miss Argent know when she wakes up, you go back to sleep. Sleep is often the best medicine for migraines” Melissa says, and I’m asleep before she’s out of the room.

The next time I wake up it is clearly morning. Victoria and a doctor are talking near the door, and Kate is asleep once again in the chair next to me. I chuckle a little to alert everyone that I’m awake.  
“Has she been sleeping in that chair all night? She’s going to wake up with a bigger headache than I had yesterday.”  
“Ah, Miss Volkov. That was quite a scare you gave your family the other day. Now, your nurse tells me that she spoke to you briefly last night?” the doctor asks me.  
“Yes, she said it was a migraine. I've never had one before, but it felt exactly how they described it in my biology class last year,” I respond, “but I feel fine now. Can I go home please?”  
“Yes, it looks like we’ll be releasing you today. I've filled out a script for you that I want you to pick up from the chemist. If this happens again, take two pills initially, and then two every six hour after that. If it persists for more than a day, I’d recommend booking yourself in to see a doctor. Victoria, would you like to come with me and we can start filling out Miss Volkov’s release forms.” The doctor and Victoria walked out of the room and the door closing woke the slumbering Kate with a start.

After an awkward conversation with Kate, she leaves the room to let me get dressed in an outfit that she picked out for me. I’m still not sure how to act around her as on the one hand, she has been nothing but kind towards me, but on the other hand she still gives off a creepy vibe and after knowing that she shot Derek I know that I can’t trust her. She comes back in the room a few minutes later as I’m putting my hair up in a bun. I don’t have a comb available to me so it’s really knotty but thanks to my siren genetics it is incapable of looking bad and it looks like I planned to put it up in a messy bun today.  
“Ready for a jailbreak, chickadee?” Kate asks, swirling keys around her finger, “I don’t know how you manage to pull off a bun every day, but you really make it work for you. Come on, Victoria has signed for your release. Now you get to go to a different kind of prison.”  
“What?” I’m confused by what she means, as I stuff my belongings into the bag my fresh clothes were in.  
“It’s time for school” she explains, “apparently being well enough to leave here means being well enough to go to class. I’m taking you to school, and Allison will meet you at your locker with your school bag.”

We’re almost at the school when I turn the radio down and turn to face Kate, “thank you for sitting by me all through the night. I know I've not been the nicest to you, but it’s nothing personal. I just,” I’m struggling to not say ‘I think you’re a psychopathic witch’, “I’m not so good with getting attached to people. I've moved around so much that by the time I start warming up to people, I have to say goodbye. It’s just easier to not make attachments.”  
“Hey, it’s all good. I move around a lot too, so I get what you mean.” I can tell that she doesn't, but we’re at the school now so I just give her a smile before opening the door.

 

Allison is waiting for me by my locker block with Lydia when I walk in the door. Apparently a lot happened while I was out. They fill me in on the attack at the school and Scott and Allison’s consequent breakup and I’m horrified when I realise that they were locked in here with a psycho alpha werewolf.  
“Lissa, I know you and Scott are really good friends, and I don’t want this to come between you guys. I just wanted to let you know that I’m okay with you guys being friends,” Allison says, to which Lydia gets really offended. She starts going on about girl code, but I tune out as someone slams into a locker and I suddenly realise what the girls are wearing. I school my face back into a smile before I look over towards where the boys and I were standing in my vision. Jackson is looking way to smug for my liking and I realise that I need to get to Stiles, as he is the first person that Scott will go looking for after their conversation is over. I tune back in to the conversation to hear Allison reminding Lydia that Scott and Stiles were pretty much my only friends and saying that “I wouldn't expect her to give up her only friends for me, I’m just her foster sister. I think the girl code doesn't quite fit here.”  
“Thanks Allison, but you’re not just my foster sister – I’d like to think that we’re friends too. If you will excuse me, though, I do need to go find Stiles,” and with that I walk off in the direction I saw myself go in my vision.

 

* * *

 

“Lissa!” I hear from behind me, and turn around to see Danny leaning up against the hallway wall. 

“You know, you really shouldn’t pose against the wall like that. You’ll drive all the boys crazy and then who will be left to look at Lydia?” I kid as I walk over to him, “How have you been, anyway? You ready for the game tonight?”  
“Yea, I am. Hopefully Jackson gets cleared for it. Couch made him see a doctor because he’s been a bit off lately. He’ll be furious if we win tonight without him, he already hates your weird friend and McCall enough as it is” as he says that, I can hear Stiles and Scott coming around the corner.  
“Alright, alright, did he say it out loud? The word?”  
“What word”  
“Werewolf. Did he say ‘I know you’re a werewolf’?”  
I’m really hoping that my hearing is still being extra sensitive and those boys aren't talking as loud as I fear they are. They’re passing by us now as Scott replies, “No, but he implied it pretty freaking clearly!”  
“Speaking of my weird friends,” I chuckle nervously, as I turn back to Danny, “I’d better got and see what nonsense those two are up to now. They’d better not have spent the whole time I was in hospital playing their video games!”  
“Wait, you were in hospital?” Danny asks, stopping me from running off after the boys, I glance over at them as they continue to walk away, voices carrying far too loudly for my liking, “Are you okay?”  
“What? Yea, I’m fine. I got this really bad migraine out of the blue, and the Argent’s weren't sure what was happening so they took me to hospital. Honestly, I’m okay. I’ll see you in class?”  
“Yea, I’ll save you a seat.”  
“Thanks Danny!” I call over my shoulder, as I race after the boys.

“Ow!”  
“Ow!”  
I come up between the two boys and grab them by their ears, “Follow me!” I hiss, and drag them into an empty classroom, before letting go of their ears and closing the door behind me.  
“What the hell was that for?” Stiles yells, “are you crazy?”  
“No, but you boys are! I don’t care who figured out your furry little secret, Scott, but if you keep on yelling about it in the hallways everyone is going to know. I just had to cover for you guys with Danny, and you’re lucky he was distracted by my story of being in hospital because I’m not very good at lying under pressure!” The boys are looking at each other sheepishly, and rightly so, “ now, I got the human story from Allison this morning, but you’d better have a damn good reason for not having come to visit me at the hospital these last two days. What the hell happened the other night?”

“Scott’s boss is the alpha,” Stiles blurts out, “We thought Derek was dead, so when we got locked in the school with Allison, Lydia and Jackson Scott told them Derek was a murderer and now he’s wanted by the cops. Jackson figured out Scott’s secret and oh my god, Scott, if you say that the worst part is Allison breaking up with you one more time, I’m leaving” he flails a bit before putting his hands on his hips and breathing heavily.  
“Okay, Scott. Your turn,” I turn to face him and see that he’s looking hurt.  
“Derek was beating up my boss over some picture of a deer, so we went to the school to lure the real alpha out. Instead, the alpha lured Allison, Lydia and Jackson to the school and we all got locked inside with it. We spent the night running from it until I went out to get the keys off the dead janitor so we could escape down the fire escape. The alpha forced me to change and tried to get me to kill everyone but hearing Allison panic helped me change back. It was all for nothing anyway, because I had to spend the whole night lying to her and now she hates me.”  
“Wow. Okay, I’m feeling a lot of teenage angst in here right now. You guys get a pass for not having visited me. Scott, you’ll get her back. She was cut up over it this morning when I was talking to her, you just need to give her time, and space. I’ll talk you up when I can and try to figure out where her head is. We need to get to class though, the bell is about to” I’m cut off by the bell ringing and people walking into the classroom, “we’ll talk later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lissa's siren powers:  
> \- her visions are becoming more detailed, and she's learning to navigate them better.  
> \- we find out what happens when a siren goes into sensory overload  
> \- what's going on with these pains in her arms?  
> Does the nurse sound familiar to anyone?  
> Since I made you wait so long for this update, here's a sneak peak at the next chapter...   
> "I can help, if you want. I know my way around a knife from when I was living in a really rough foster home."   
> "Oh my god, you're totally part of the Russian Mafia, aren't you?"


	8. Family Trees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lissa finally figures out who her father was, thanks to some help from a surprising source.  
> Badass Lissa pulls a fast one on Stiles and causes a scandal at the hardware store.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long chapter, but I didn't wan't to split it into two short ones. Also, I realise that I've mucked up the order of when Jackson figures it out, but for the sake of the story let's pretend that this is how it went down.  
> *Text conversations* The person who the conversation is with will be in bold. All messages from them will be italicized.

“Two more killed last night, Chris. Obviously you’ve _not_ got this situation under control.”  
“Why did you come, Kate? Really,” Chris was trying to keep his voice down, but with my enhanced hearing I could hear every word, “you hate Beacon Hills. You couldn’t wait to leave last time.” Wait, Kate had been here before?  
“I came because you have a rogue alpha problem. How many more does the alpha have to kill before you’ll start taking this seriously?” Kate was starting to get annoyed, and her voice was slowly rising. If she wasn’t careful, she would soon become loud enough even for Allison to overhear.  
“I AM taking this seriously, Kate, but we live by the code. What you’re doing? That’s not how we do things. You need to take a step back and remember who is in charge here.” A door slams, and then someone is storming up the staircase. I can tell by the pattern of her steps that it is Kate. Too late, I realise that my door isn’t closed properly, so the light from my room is spilling into the hallway.

“Hey there kiddo. I hope we didn’t keep you awake?” She’s obviously fishing to see if I overheard the argument downstairs.  
“What? No, I’ve just been working on my history assignment. We have to find something interesting in our family history, but unfortunately Volkov is a common last name in Russia, and I don’t know my mother’s maiden name. I’m thinking about making something up, just to get it over and done with.” The truth is that I don’t even know if Volkov is my father’s real name, but it’s what my mum put on my birth certificate, so it’s all that I have to go off, “is everything alright downstairs? You can’t usually hear conversations from up here unless you’re talking really loud.”  
“So you could hear us then?” she asks me. I realise my slip and quickly cover up with “No. But I gathered that it was an argument because you were worried about how loud you were being. Are you ok? I’m a good listener, and I’m pretty good at keeping secrets. Mostly because I have no one to tell them to.” I trail off, hoping she’ll take the bait.  
“Nah, it’s just Chris being a protective older brother. Do you want help with your assignment? I’m pretty handy with research. What have you got so far?”

I turn the laptop around to face her and she slowly looks over my notes so far.  
“So you’ve narrowed it down to one of three family lines, how did you do that?” She asks.  
“Well, I went through and found the ten Volkov families that lived in the city mum said I was conceived and eliminated all of the ones without men between the ages of 17-50. That left me with four family lines, but I eliminated the other one because the son is in jail for homosexuality. So now I have three possibilities and no way to narrow it down without DNA testing.”  
Kate turns to me and starts studying my features, “You’ve met your mother, right? What colour hair does she have?”  
“Red, and it’s curly.” Kate starts clicking in and out of browser tabs, looking up to study me every few minutes, before she finally turns the laptop back to me, “I think it’s this one.”  
It’s unbelievable. I’m looking at a family portrait, and I can see bits of myself in every person there. They all have the same hair as I do, the same face shape, the same nose.  
“How?” is all I can say as I stare at what could only be my paternal family.  
“It was nothing. I looked into my own family history recently, so I’m signed up for a few ‘trace your ancestor’ websites. I just looked up your last name and found those three families, then found the family that you look the most like. Unfortunately, well, there’s no easy way to say this” she trails off, looking uncomfortable.  
“What?”  
“Well, your family… there’s no-one left. They all passed away in a boating accident, just under a year before you were born. It would have been about the time you were conceived. I’m sorry, Lissa.” She’s looking uncomfortable with being the bearer of bad news, but I’m honestly not even shocked. Angry at my mother, but not surprised. It’s in her nature, after all. It’s probably how they met.  
“It’s ok, Kate. Thank you for helping me find them. Maybe I can use that as my story. I think I just need to be alone right now though.” I need to do this part of the research alone, because I know that Kate is smarter than she pretends to be, just like I am, and if there’s anything dodgy in the boating accident she’ll want to poke around.

I close up the laptop and offer her a sad smile as she’s leaving the room, “thanks Kate, really. I’m glad I know now.”

 

* * *

 

**New Message: Yoda**

5:02am

_You up yet?_

I am now. Stiles?

_Yup. You up for a shopping trip before school today?_

When did you change your name in my phone to Yoda?

Why are we going shopping before school? Can’t it wait?

_The other day. How did you know it was me? No it can’t because I have lacrosse after school and I need it for tonight._

Because Scott hasn’t seen Star Wars, and you’re the only other person who’s geeky enough to change your name to that. Tonight?

_Full Moon._

Right. Ugh, fine. I’m up anyway.

What time?

_20 minutes. I’ll be out the front._

 

* * *

 

“Stiles, it is way too early for this. I expect coffee when we get to the mall.” I say as I slide into the passenger side door of his jeep half an hour later. Chris was getting up as I sluggishly made my lunch so I was delayed by explaining where I was going.  
“We’re not going to the mall,” Stiles is way too chipper for me to handle this early in the morning, he’s practically bouncing in his seat, “We’re going to the hardware store.”

We've been walking around the hardware store for about five minutes when Stiles finally finds what he’s looking for – chains.  
“Oh my god, this is perfect!” He grabs a thick, ten meter long chain and adds it to the basket. I can’t help but grin in return, it will be hilarious to see the look on Scott’s face when Stiles brings this out. “Oh, and I've appropriated a pair of handcuffs from my dad, so with this we’re all set for tonight.” He says as we turn around and freeze. Standing behind us is an elderly couple and their granddaughter. The old lady is giving us a scandalized look and the old man looks like he’s trying hard not to laugh. I feel my face flush with heat as I grab Stiles’ hand and drag him down the aisle, not looking where I’m going.  
“That was mortifying,” I gasp out when we’re four aisles away from the old couple, but Stiles is paying me no attention. Instead, he’s staring at the wall with a smirk plastered across his face. I look over and see what he’s grinning about immediately, “I wonder if we can get it engraved.”  

“So what time are you picking me up tonight?” I ask Stiles as he’s shoving our purchases into the back of his jeep. He looks up at me in confusion. “Tonight? Dude, you’re not coming tonight. Scott is dangerous on the full moon, you could get hurt.” Before he knows it, Stiles is pressed up against the jeep with a dagger against his throat. I've taken to not leaving the house without them, especially since there’s a rogue alpha on the loose.  
“Where the hell did that come from?” He flails away from me as I back off with a smirk. I lift the skirt of my dress up and strap it back into my thigh holster, “I can help, if you want. I know my way around a knife from when I was living in a really rough foster home.” When I was fourteen, I was in a group foster home and one of the girls there got raped on her way home from school. My foster parents at the time took it upon themselves to teach us all how to defend ourselves with easily concealed weapons. We lived in a rough neighborhood, but it was one of the best years of my life as I was really close with my foster family and they actually cared about us. Unfortunately, once child services found out what they were teaching us, we were all removed from the family.  
“Oh my god, you’re totally part of the Russian Mafia, aren't you?” Stiles asks as we drive out of the car-park, “You’re Russian mob and you’re here in America to assassinate someone.”  
“I actually can’t tell if you’re joking or not,” I say, with an affected hurt expression, “But no. I managed to track down my father’s family recently with a bit of help from the Argents. My grandfather was a wealthy businessman and my dad was a trust fund baby. I doubt he’d ever worked a day in his life before he died.” I can tell that Stiles wants to get into the story but I don’t feel like sharing it yet, so I bring the conversation back around to tonight as we arrive at the school car-park. “So, tonight. Moon rises at 6.35pm. Pick me up at 5, and we’ll grab a pizza on the way over to Scott’s house.”  
“Fine. But you’re telling Scott. Oh my god! You should see if you can pull a knife on him, he’s got super-fast reflexes now but I reckon you could take him.”  
“I believe I could.” I say with a smirk as I get out of his car and we head towards the main building.

 

* * *

 

“So, Lissa, are you going to come and watch practice with Allison after school today?” Danny asks me as I sit next to him at lunch, “you haven’t been in a while. I’m sure Stiles would love to see you in the stands.” He has a massive smirk on his face as everyone on the table turns to look at me.  
“I thought you said there wasn't anything going on with you two?” Allison asks me, and I can see that this is exactly what Danny was hoping would happen.  
“There isn't. I came to school with him this morning because he needed help with some shopping, and I’m the only girl he knows well enough to ask,” I reply, “there’s nothing going on there, trust me. I’m not his type, and he’s not mine.”  
“Well, it’s about time that boy had some proper shopping done for him. Plaid is okay every now and then, but not every day.” Lydia remarks. Everyone at the table turns to her with shocked looks on their faces, “What? It’s an eyesore. I’m allowed to notice bad fashion! Like those heels with that dress today Lissa, the color palette is all wrong.” Apparently this is an acceptable response, as everyone goes back to their lunch conversations after that.  
“You just love to stir up trouble, don’t you?” I ask Danny. His answering smirk says it all. “Yes, I will be there after school today if Allison is. I still don’t understand why everyone loves the sport, but even I can’t deny that there’s some definite eye candy on the team.” I wink at him as I get up from the table, “and speaking of team members, I promised that I’d scare the pants off a certain lacrosse player today, so I’m going to go find him. See you later.”

 

* * *

 

I don’t end up seeing Scott again until after school, when he makes a late exit from the changing rooms, so I don’t get the chance to test my reflexes against his. My upper body has been sore pretty much constantly since I was hospitalized the other week, but it is starting to get painful again when I see Scott exiting the change rooms. Something seems off about him, so I put my pain to the back of my mind and focus in on his conversation with Stiles, under the pretense of finishing my English homework.  

“Hey, what happened?” Stiles asks him.  
“What?” Scott replies distractedly. He has a dark smirk on his face, and I’m starting to get a bad feeling about the full moon tonight.  
“What do you mean, what? Did you ask her? Did she say anything? Did she say she likes me? Did she _imply_ she likes me?” Ahh, Stiles must be getting Scott to use his enhanced senses to figure out if Lydia likes him.  
“Yea.” Scott replies. Wait, what? “Yea, she likes you. In fact, she’s totally into you.” Stiles is flailing his arms in the air in victory but I’m sitting in the bleachers very confused. Lydia doesn't like Stiles. Not that way, at least – she’s head over heels in love with Jackson. Coach blows the whistle and the boys both run out onto the field. Hang on, why is Stiles on the field? Today seems to be a day that’s full of surprises.

They’re doing their warm ups on the field when Scott gets knocked down by one of Jackson’s lackeys. This isn't going to end well. He ends up, taking out all of the defenders before clocking Danny in the face so hard that he doesn't get back up. I rush onto the field but get overtaken by Lydia, who runs up and stands next to Jackson. 

“Is he okay?” she asks him, “Yea, it looks like he’s just got a bloody nose.” Jackson turns to face Lydia and notices it at the same time as I do – Lydia’s always perfect make-up is smudged around the lips. It has that just-kissed look to it, but she plays it off as nothing. I’m going to kill that boy. Full moon or no, there’s no excuse for kissing the girl his best friend is in love with. Poor Stiles looks like his world has just come crashing down around him.

 

* * *

 

I’m about to knock on Allison’s door to let her know that I’m heading out when I hear an electric buzzing sound coming from inside, followed by Kate’s excited laughing.  
“Knock, knock,” I call as I open the door. Both girls turn to look at me and freeze, identical expressions of guilt on their faces, “Oh my god, is that a taser? That’s awesome!” I say as I rush in to have a look. Allison seems to have just shot her teddy bear in the chest.  
“Yea, you want a go, kiddo? After the attack the other night at the school, I’m teaching Allison a little bit of self-defense.” I want so badly to stay and play with the taser, I've always wanted to shoot one of those, but Stiles is waiting for me out the front with pizza.  
“Oh man, you have no idea how much I want to stay and play with that, but I have to go. I’m hanging out with, um, Stiles and Scott tonight. Is that okay Allison? He’s a little cut up still so Stiles and I are going to surprise him with pizza.” I realise suddenly that maybe it’s not a good idea to tell the hunter’s daughter that I’m hanging out with her ex whilst she’s holding a live weapon.  
“Yea, it’s fine. I've got plans tonight anyway. Jackson wants to talk to me about Lydia” she replies, “besides, I told you I’m okay with you guys being friends. You were friends before I came into the picture.”  
“okay, well, I don’t know what time I’ll be home, but you guys have fun,” I say as I head back towards the door, “and seriously, Kate – I want a rain-check on that taser lesson.”  
“Sure thing, kiddo. Tomorrow night.” She calls out, but I’m almost at the front door, so I don’t respond.

Stiles is silent for the whole drive over to Scott’s house. I can tell that he’s still upset from earlier, so I don’t pressure him to talk until we’re at Scott’s front door and he pulls out a key to unlock it.  
“So … I hope you've got another pizza hiding in that duffle bag, because I’m hungry enough to eat this whole thing to myself” I joke. He’s about to respond when a familiar female voice calls out, “Scott?”  
“Stiles,” he chuckles, “and this is Lissa.”  
“I remember. How’s the head?” she asks me, but before I can respond she turns back to Stiles and points to the key in his hand, “key?”  
“Yea,” he has the decency to pretend to look sheepish, “I had one made, so …” he trails off.  
“That doesn't surprise me. Scares me, but doesn't surprise me.” Stiles drops the duffle bag with a heavy thud and we both wince.  
“What is that?” She asks Stiles. I slip a slice of pizza out of the box and munch on it in the background, content with being left out of this awkward conversation.  
“School project?” Stiles’ answer sounds more like a question, and I cringe slightly. This boy does not know how to lie. Thankfully, Melissa seems to decide that she’d rather not know, and just shakes her head as she walks past us to the door, “well, be careful tonight. Full moon.” I choke on my slice of pizza as she says that and miss the next couple of seconds of conversation, “brings out all the nut jobs. You know, it’s actually where they came up with the word ‘lunatic’.” She says, before walking out the front door.

Stiles turns to face me and sees me reaching for my second slice of pizza, “hey! Save some for us!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta love mumma McCall.  
> No new powers this chapter, but Lissa is still in pain. Could it be residual wolfsbane still in her system? Or something else?  
> You'll find out soon!


	9. The Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really happy with the way this one came out, it's very short and very dialogue heavy.  
> Lissa and Stiles are in charge of keeping Scott under control during the full moon, but without Allison to be his anchor it's no easy feat.  
> Can they keep him under control, or will Lissa have to use her siren gifts to force him to calm down?

Stiles wouldn't let me in to see Scott until he had him chained up to the radiator, so I’m not sure if he even realizes that I’m here yet. He’s antagonizing Stiles through the wall right now, telling him all about how Lydia was all over him, and Stiles looks like he’s about to break.

“That’s it,” I stand up and furiously wrench open the door to Scott’s room. Pouring all of my siren charm into my voice, I slam the door behind me and slowly approach Scott, “You need to calm down, right now.” I command, and Scott stops trying to wriggle free of the handcuffs that are binding him to the radiator. Handcuffs, really? They won’t hold him once the moon is up. “Scott, you’re not in your right mind right now. That is your best friend that you’re hurting out there” I say as I slowly move towards his open window, but my mental voice is commanding his wolf to retreat, to back down and let the human take control of the mind. I reach over and close the window, then draw the blinds. “Is that better, now that you can’t see the moon?” I ask him soothingly, while my mental voice continues telling him to calm down, “shh! You just need to go to sleep now, sleep it off Scott. You’ll be back to normal in the morning.” By this stage I’m kneeling down in front of him, and I stroke his face softly as I begin to hum under my breath. By this stage his wolf is calm and fully contained, but I know that the moon is almost at its peak and I want him completely under my spell by then. I've almost finished humming the third verse to ‘amazing grace’ when he slumps over against the wall and I know he’s out for the night.

Stiles edges the door open a crack, then opens it fully when he sees that it’s safe to come in.  
“Dude, how the hell did you do that?” he asks me, astonishment clear on his face, “You've barely been in here ten minutes and he’s out like a light!”  
I sigh deeply and run my hands over my face, I hate using my powers on others but tonight I had no choice. I couldn't stand to see Stiles hurting any longer.  
“I told you I've had experience with wolves before. Scott’s going to hate me in the morning, but I didn't have a choice! He was hurting you, Stiles!” I have to make sure Stiles understands my reasoning, I can’t lose the only two friends I've made in this town. “I didn't have a choice! He needs to find his anchor so he can control himself, I just … helped him along a little. Honestly. I never do it maliciously!”  
“Lissa, what did you do?” Stiles is beginning to look at me warily. Good, he should be wary of me. With a snap of my fingers I could make him throw himself off the roof if I wanted to. “You didn't hurt him, did you?”  
“No! Of course not. It’s not long-lasting, he’ll be fine again in the morning, or if I get far enough away.” I can’t keep lying to them anymore, the guilt is eating me up inside every time the supernatural is brought up. It’s time to finally confess. If I can’t trust these two boys with my secret, then who can I trust? “Stiles, I’m not human.”

 

* * *

 

“Wait, what? Are you a wolf too?” Stiles is looking absolutely clueless, “oh my god, are you the alpha?” He starts to slowly back away from me in fear.  
“What? No! I’m not a wolf! Stiles, do you remember me telling you that there was so much more out there?” I ask him, “well, I’m one of those other things. Stiles, I’m a – I’m a siren; It’s how I got Scott to calm down tonight, I commanded him to do it. I hate using my powers though, I hate the feeling of taking away another human’s free will. It’s why my mother sent me away.”  
He seems to be taking it all surprisingly well, or maybe he just doesn't quite understand what I mean by it yet.  
“I thought you were in the foster system since you were a baby though?”  
“I was. My mum came back for me a few years ago though. She saw that I had a kind soul though, she has a gift for telling that kind of thing, and she left me here so that I wouldn't get corrupted by the sirens that raised her. She left me behind so that I could grow up and have a normal life, but I’ll never be normal. I’ll always be conscious of what I am and I’ll always have to be cautious to not use my siren voice around others. I hate manipulating people with it, and I try to avoid it as much as possible.”  
“huh” he sits there in silence for about five minutes before a cheeky grin crosses his face, and he looks at my legs, “so … how come you don’t have a tail?”

 

* * *

 

After a lot of convincing on my voice, and the promise that I wasn't using my gifts against him, I managed to convince Stiles to let the subject drop for the night so that I could explain it to them both at the same time. I didn't feel comfortable leaving Stiles alone with Scott, so I called Allison and she agreed to cover for me with her family. They were all out hunting Scott and Derek anyway, not that she knew that of course, so she would only have to cover for me if they looked in my room and noticed the empty bed.

Scott woke up about 5am, which in turn woke me up as I was using his legs as a pillow.  
“Lissa? What happened last night?” He looked around his room confusedly. I can see that he was back to his right mind, so I reach over and steal the keys from Stiles’ hand to unlock the handcuffs.  
“Oh boy, do you have some apologizing to do. I don’t know how much of last night you remember, but you were a massive jerk to Stiles all day yesterday,” I explain as I get up and gather my things, “you’re lucky I was able to calm you down last night or things could have gotten really ugly. You said some pretty hurtful things.” I can tell by his wince that he at least remembers some of the things he was saying.  
“Yea, about that, how did you calm me down? I was so angry when you came in, and then all of a sudden I was so sleepy that I couldn't stay awake!”  
“That’s a conversation for another day, Scott. Stiles will fill you in a bit when he wakes up, but right now I have to go. It’s a two mile run back to mine, and I need to be back before the Argents wake up.” I know I’m chickening out, but I really can’t deal with another explanation this early in the morning. I slip out of the house, and begin my quick jog home.

 

* * *

 

I manage to avoid the boys all morning by making sure that I’m surrounded by people who aren't in the know about the supernatural goings on of Beacon Hills, but they finally catch me as I’m making my way to the cafeteria for lunch. Stiles grabs one side of me and Scott grabs the other and they steer me to a table in the corner of the room, away from prying ears. Unfortunately, Jackson has decided that today is a good day to antagonize Scott, and is taunting him from the other side of the cafeteria. Scott desperately asks us to distract him and Stiles brings up my revelation from last night.

“So, sirens.” He begins, “is there anything else you haven’t told us?” I expected this from them, so I try not to let how much their anger hurts me show on my face, “because I thought we had this chat a few weeks ago, and you said you told us everything then. How are we supposed to trust you now?”  
“I get that you’re upset, okay? But please try to see this from my perspective! All my life I've known I was different, and the only other person I told ended up dead. I hated not telling you guys, but at the same time I wanted you to get to know the real me before I said anything. Please, you can’t tell anyone! Not even Derek. I’ll help you guys out with whatever you need, but I don’t want to use my powers unless I absolutely have to. I have spent so much time suppressing what I am and hiding it away, I can’t just stop that now. Scott, you of all people have to understand – this is a curse, I never wanted it!” I plead.   
“I get that you hate what you are, but you could have told us.” Scott says in a disappointed tone. Damn, I hate disappointing people. Anger, I can deal with. I’m used to anger, but I hate disappointing those I care about, “You've known what I was since day one, but you never said a thing. You’re hiding so many secrets Lissa. Were you ever going to tell us?”

“Of course I was going to tell you! I just don’t know when. Look, I mean it this time. Ask me any question you want. If I know the answer, I’ll tell you it. I promise!” they look at each other and have a silent conversation with their eyes before Scott nods and turns back to me.  
“What exactly is a siren?” he asks, “like, what can you do?”  
“Well, I have enhanced healing, like you do. Do you remember when Derek hurt my arm that time? It was healed by the time I got home. Um, I have enhanced senses, too. I can hear every word Jackson is saying right now – don’t look! Just keep ignoring him. He’s getting frustrated because he thinks we can’t hear him. It’s not as strong as yours will be Scott, but it’ll get stronger when I reach 16. That’s the magical number for sirens, apparently. It’s like getting a power up in a video game. All of my powers will ‘level up’, so to speak, on my birthday, but then they’ll stay like that until close to my 25th birthday.”  
“Hey Lissa,” Stiles interrupts, “do you remember how last night you were talking about your compulsion?”  
“Yea?” I ask warily. I really hope that he doesn't ask me if I've ever used it on them.  
“Do you think you could make Jackson leave Scott alone? Or, like, kill himself? Either one is good.” Of course he’d go there. I may not be gifted in soul-seeing like my mother, but even I can see that there is a darkness to Stiles’ aura. It’s a good thing that Scott was the one bitten and not Stiles, because I don’t think he could honestly handle that much power.  
“Stiles! You know I hate using it. It’s the power that I hate the most! I won’t compel Jackson, but if you want I can scare the living daylights out of him. It might just get him to leave you alone for a little bit, until we can figure out a better game plan.”  
“Fine!” he huffs. “So, what else can you do?”  
“Well, let’s see. I've told you about the enhanced senses, then there’s the compulsion – I’m really sorry Scott but I had to use it on you last night. You needed to calm down, and I couldn't think of another way. I promise that I would never use it against you guys maliciously!” I start, “um, well, every siren has a ‘talent’, so to speak. A particular talent that is unique to them. Some have really compelling voices, some have really fast healing, and some are nearly omniscient. Every siren has a touch of the Sight, of course. I get glimpses of the future in my dreams occasionally, but I can hardly ever make sense of them until they come to pass. My talent is languages, I can speak and understand any language fluently; it’s supposed to help me lure men of any nationality to their deaths.” I trail off disgustedly.  
“Okay, so super senses, compulsion and languages. Is there anything else we should know about?” Scott asks, “Sirens are a kind of mermaid, right? So how come you don’t have a tail?” Stiles asked me this last night and I laughed it off, but obviously he hasn't had time to research sirens like he did werewolves for Scott. Most of what you'd find in a simple Google search is surprisingly accurate.   
"Sirens aren't a type of mermaid," I correct him, "there's a common misconception that we are because of the whole 'luring sailors to their death' thing, but we're actually more closely related to birds than fish. I actually hate the water." Poor stiles looks like I just told him they ran out of curly fries, "as far as I know, mermaids aren't a real thing." 

Thankfully the bell rings, and I am spared from any more questions as I walk out of the room, because the boys are distracted by the sight of Lydia calling after Jackson that he can’t be breaking up with her. I slip away from them in the commotion and head towards my biology lab, grateful once again that we only have two classes together.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the boys know now. Lissa is going to have to work to earn their trust back, and there will definitely be more questions to come. At least now she can help Scott properly, without having to hold anything back.  
> Lissa's powers so far:  
> \- languages. This is a new talent that is mentioned briefly, but not actually used yet. Lissa has complete mastery over any language that she comes across, but she has to see it written down or hear it spoken before she can master it. This has been hinted at previously in the parent teacher interviews.  
> Next chapter: Jackson figures out that Lissa knows about werewolves and tries to blackmail her, but it doesn't turn out the way he planned.


	10. Secrets revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Sorry it took so long to update, I've been sick for the past week. I'm on my way to better now though, so updates should go back to being one every second day! :)  
> As a sorry for my absence, though, here's an extra long chapter for you!  
> In this chapter: Jackson gets the fear of God put in him, much to the delight of not only Lissa, but also an eavesdropping Scott and Stiles.  
> Plus! Secrets will be revealed, and Chris comes dangerously close to the truth!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *if parts of the dialogue in this chapter seem familiar, it is because I have based it on the actual script from season 1, episode 10. I do not own Teen Wolf, or any of it's characters. The only thing I own in this story is my Character Vasilissa*

“Get off my car, you’re dirtying it,” Jackson snarks as he sees me blocking his car door after school. I look up from filing my nails and smirk as he comes to stand in front of me. “And it’s a pleasure to see you too, Jackson,” I lean against his car, showing that I’m not moving. “We need to talk.”  
“Look, if this is about Lydia, she was dead weight. I’m moving on to bigger and better things in my life,” he responds, before moving forward to push me out of the way. Before he knows what’s happened, I've spun him around and am holding one of my knives against his family jewels, and another against his stomach. I lean in really close to him and whisper in his ear, “no, Jackson. This isn't about your little lovers spat. Trust me, you want to hear what I have to say – you have no idea what you’re trying to get yourself into.” I hear him gulp and can see his hands trembling as he raises them slowly in a sign of surrender. I jump back and smirk before rounding his car to the passenger side, tucking my knives back up my sleeves as I go. I don’t need my siren powers to make a man do what I want, I can be plenty threatening enough with just my weapons by my side.  
“Come on then, let’s take a drive.” I say as I get in his car, this is going to be fun.

 

* * *

 

I made Jackson go through the drive through and get us burgers before pulling in to the car park, refusing to answer any questions he had until I had food in my hands.  
“Okay, Jackson. Obviously, you think you know something. I don’t know how you worked it out, and I don’t care, but I need to set the record straight. What you’re asking Scott for? You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.” I start, but he quickly cuts me off.  
“Wait, you know? Of course you know, all of this started when you rocked into town. Are you the one that turned him then? Are you a, a werewolf?”  
“Of course I know, idiot. Why the hell else would I hold you at knife-point, and force you to go for a drive with me? It’s certainly not for the pleasure of your company,” I scoff. I swear I see Lydia’s car behind us in the rear-view mirror, but when I turn around there’s no-one there, so I take a small bite of my burger and turn back to Jackson. He looks insulted. Good. “I’m not a werewolf, idiot. I’m Russian. I’m also about 10 times sneakier than you, and at least 20 times more devious, so go ahead and tell someone I kidnapped you. They’ll never believe it.” I turn back to my burger and let him stew for a bit.

“Okay, so you’re what? Russian mafia?” He guesses. I scoff and shake my head no, but don’t respond as my mouth is full, “fine, whatever. Obviously you know something though, or you wouldn't have forced your company on me. So what is it?” As much as I was enjoying forcing my company on Jackson, he had a point. I needed to know what he thought he knew.  
“Whatever you think you know, it’s wrong. Jackson – have you ever broken a bone before?” I ask him.  
“What? Of course not.”  
“Right. Well, I want you to imagine having every single bone in your body broken. At the same time.” By this point he is looking completely lost as to what I’m going on about, “at the same time, you lose control of your mind and command of your body. Not only that, but for a couple of days before that all of your senses will be on overload. I know you think that it is all roses and daisies, but you have no idea what it’s like. Sure, you can run a bit faster and your reflexes improve, but most of the time you’re using those skills to run for your life. Werewolves aren't the only thing that goes bump in the night, or the most dangerous. Oh, and then there’s the hunters: families that literally train their children from when they’re in diapers so that when they grow up, they can go into the family business. Once they figure out what you are, which they will, you will literally be on the run for the rest of your suddenly short life. One of my best friends was an Alpha, the strongest kind of werewolf that there is, and he was taken down by a family of hunters who pumped wolfs bane into the school air ducts to weaken him. He had never hurt a soul, was one of the nicest guys that I've ever met, but they didn't care. They killed him because of what he was born as. They are merciless, and if you think for one second that they’re going to spare you because of your age, or because of your money or whatever … Tommy was 14. Tommy was 14, and his father is the head of an international shipping company.” I can see that Jackson is considering what I’m saying, but his sense of invulnerability and his cocky nature is making him not take me seriously. “Look, I just want you to think about the dangers of the world that you’re wanting to enter. If it’s about being the best lacrosse player, then that’s stupid. Scott had to get a supernatural boost just to be almost as good as you are, not that he asked for it of course. Just … take a couple of days to think about what I said, okay? Try to think about what you’re really asking, and maybe make a list of questions. I promise that if I know the answer, I’ll answer them for you, but know that Google is an unreliable source and so is Hollywood.” I open my door to get out, but lean back in when I realise that I haven’t said the most important thing, “oh, and if you bother Scott about this again … just remember that I know how to cut you so that you won’t bleed out for days, and how to stitch you back up again. See, the trick with torture is to find their pain threshold and make sure that you only just go over it – that way they stay awake the whole time.” With a saccharine smile, I close the door and strut to the other side of the carpark where I can see Scott and Stiles trying unsuccessfully to hide in his jeep.

 

* * *

 

“Scott, I know you’re listening. You’re giving me a ride home,” I say when I’m still 10 meters away from Stiles’ jeep. I can hear their heartbeats in the car, so I know that they’re in there, “oh, and you guys suck at discreet by the way. I saw you when you pulled in to the carpark.” By this stage I've reached the jeep, so I open the back door and give them my best ‘I’m judging you’ look. They’re actually sitting in the front seat with their heads ducked down so as to not be seen through the windshield.  
Oh, hey Lissa. Fancy seeing you here.” Scott says with a sheepish chuckle, as the boys sit up and face me. “Um, you do know that that’s not exactly what a full moon is like, right? It doesn't actually hurt me at all to shift. Wait, is it going to hurt in the future?” by this stage his heart rate is starting to rise and I can see the panic rise along with it.  
“No, Dumbo. I just said it because I wanted to scare him off. You’re welcome, by the way.” Stiles is pulling out of the carpark by now, yet he still hasn't said a single word to me. “Everything alright up there, Stiles? I mean, I know you got caught eavesdropping, but chill dude – I’m not cross. In fact, it would weird me out if you hadn't followed.”  
“That’s not it,” he replies without looking back at me, “do you really know how to torture a guy like that? Where the hell did you even learn that?” Oh, of course. I was so focused on the fact that the boys were eavesdropping that I hadn't even thought about what they might have overheard.  
“Of course not! Jeez, I may be handy with a knife but I’m not cruel. A threat is only empty if the other person doesn't know that you can’t back it up.” With that cleared up, Stiles is able to relax and we joke about how twitchy Jackson was for the rest of the trip back to my house.

 

* * *

 

The next week brings some startling revelations. Stiles and Derek figure out that the alpha is Derek’s not-so-comatose uncle, who then attacks them and somehow manages to convince Derek to join his side; Stiles misses his first game because of this but they win anyway; Kate is getting scarily close to figuring out who the second beta is and I've finally figured out why Allison is acting so weird. Kate has been leaving her a bread-trail to follow and she’s close to figuring out about the supernatural world. On the bright side though, Jackson doesn't bother me at all for the next few days, aside from some uncomfortable staring whenever we’re in the same room. The strangest thing is that Lydia has also taken up with glaring at me whenever she sees me, though I don’t know what I've done to offend her. It’s on the sixth day that I open my locker to find a hastily written letter from Jackson – or maybe he just has really bad handwriting.

 

_Ok fine, you said to ask you questions so you’d better have some damn answers for me_

_1._ _How do you actually become a werewolf?_

_2._ _Are the Argents hunters?_

_3\. Are you a hunter now? And if so would you tell them about me? I know you won’t rat out McCall, but if you rat me out I’m taking him down with me?_

_4\. Is the silver bullet thing real or myth?_

_5\. How strong and fast would I become? Does it depend on how strong I am beforehand, or does everyone just become equally strong and fast?_

_6\. How did Scott become one?_

_7\. What other things go bump in the night? Is everything real?_

_8\. Will it show up in a blood test? I plan to go pro, and I don’t want anything freaky showing up in my drug tests._

 

What the hell is that boy thinking? I storm up to him at his locker and slam it closed, “Excuse me Danny, I need to borrow this imbecile for a minute. Jackson?” I grab him by the ear and pull him into an empty classroom. “What the hell is wrong with you?” I huff, brandishing his stupid list in his face, “ANYONE could have found this list! There is a hunter at our school, do you want to get Scott, yourself and me killed?”  
“Jeez, calm down crazy lady! I stuck it through your locker. Besides, I had to get the questions to you somehow and I didn't want a repeat performance of the car trip the other day!” he yells back at me.  
“Lower your voice!” I hiss, massaging my temples, “oh my gods, why didn't I just kill you the other day when I had the chance?” I fold his question list up and stick it down my bra for safe keeping, “it isn't safe to talk here. You and I are going for a drive after school again, and I’ll answer your stupid questions then. I don’t care what you have to say about that, you’re already on the hunter’s radar and if it weren't for Scott I would have turned you over to them at the game the other day when they were watching you.” I’d overheard Kate asking Chris if you could be turned by a scratch the other day when we were watching Scott’s lacrosse game and Kate had caught me listening in so I had to act oblivious and ask her what she meant, then pretend to believe the bull story that they fed me. It looks like I've finally said something to get through to Jackson though as he looks to be taking me seriously for once.

“Fine. Meet me at my car after school.” He purposely knocks into my shoulder on his way out of the classroom and I look around to realise that it’s the room we’re about to be in for class. I let out a small giggle as the bell goes shortly after the door closes and he sulks back into the room and to his usual seat. Oh, it’s fun to be me…

 

* * *

 

“Jackson! Slow down, you’ll kill us!” he’s driving like a madman, drifting the car around tight turns in the multi-level car park that we’re in.  
“Start giving me answers then,” he says, but the car suddenly makes a loud clunking noise and all the lights on the dash start flashing. We’re screeching to a halt as we slide along the asphalt. “Great!”  
“pop the hood,” I sigh. He gives me an incredulous look as I hike my jacket sleeves up to my elbows, “Jeez Jackson, I’m not going to hurt anything, I’m just looking to see if you threw your fan belt off with your insane driving. Pop the hood.” He pops his boot and I’m just about to open it all the way when I see Chris pull up in his SUV. This can’t end well. I strain my hearing out as far as it goes and hear Stiles and Scott a block away from us, they’ll be here soon and I need to resolve this before that happens. Chris can’t know what Scott is.

He calls out to us as he’s walking over to Jackson’s car from behind me, “Car trouble?”  
“it’s okay, I’m just going to call a, um, a tow truck” Jackson stammers out. I notice some sort of foreign device on his motor, which only confirms my suspicions that Chris set this up to get Jackson on his own. It looks like something I saw back in San Fran, but I can't be certain and now isn't the time to ask. I can see Chris’ surprise as I stand up and he can see me over the car roof, he obviously wasn't expecting it to be me with my head in Jackson’s engine.  
“Well, it’s definitely not the fan belt, but you should probably top up your radiator coolant. You do know what radiator coolant is, right Jackson? Hey Chris!”  
“Lissa. Hello, I didn't realise you two were friends?” He asks me with a questioning look, before turning back to Jackson, “I know a thing or two about cars, it might be something simple.” He says as he comes to stand on my right, and puts his hand oh so casually next to whatever the device is. I look up to see him staring at me, so I pointedly glance at his hand on the car before looking up at him with an arched eyebrow.  
“We’re not friends, we’re working together on a research assignment. I know a thing or two about cars myself, you know. If you have some water in your car, I can easily get this car going again.” Once again I look pointedly down at his hand and back up at him, “It doesn't seem like a mechanical fault, at least.” By this stage I can hear Scott’s car closing in on us.  
“I don’t know guys, it’s a pretty expensive car and they pull all this warranty crap if you mess with it.” Jackson is starting to look uncomfortable and I realise that since they already suspect him, this might work in my favor. If Chris can scare Jackson even the smallest bit, hopefully he might back off Scott until we can sort out all of this mess with Peter. I knock Chris’ hand out of the way before detaching the small device.  
“It’s okay, Jackson. I’ll top it up with tap water and it’ll get you to the mechanic. They can flush the cooling system for you no worries and there’ll be no damage done. Chris, why don’t you double check that for me while I go and see if there’s any water in your car?” I pocket the device as I’m walking over to Chris’ car, but keep an ear to their conversation as I’m walking away.

“It’s Jackson, right? Come here, I’ll show you what to look for,” Chris calls Jackson over to the engine. They’re silent for a few seconds before Jackson’s heart rate spikes and Chris apologizes, “I’m sorry.”  
“What?” Jackson asks. I glance back to see that they’re both blocked from my sight by the car, so they must be bending over.  
“Your neck.” Chris explains, “That’s a nasty scratch. You hurt yourself?” Jackson’s heart rate is continuing to rise as I find a water bottle in the front seat of the car. “No. Um, well, I mean, it’s just a, just a scratch.” He manages to stutter out as they both stand up. “Looks like more than a scratch,” Chris says, “it kinda looks like claw marks.” I’m walking back to the car now and I can see Jackson visibly flinch away from Chris before he asks “you alright?”  
“Yea, look, I’m just going to call for a tow truck,” he says, but I’m already back at the car. Stiles’ jeep pulls up to a stop next to the Porsche and he calls out “Sup! Everything okay?”  
“Yea, Jackson’s just about to be emasculated by me fixing his precious car.” I call out, before tipping some water into the windscreen wiper fluid container. Jackson will never know any different, I doubt he even knows which part is the engine. While I’m bent over I mutter under my breath “cool it guys, I've got this. No need to act all suspicious” before standing up and saying out loud, “there we go, should be all better now.

“Hey Scott,” Chris calls out in greeting, and Jackson waves at them, “your friend here was having car trouble, we’re just taking a look.”  
“You know, there’s a shop right down the street,” Scott calls over, “I’m sure they have a tow truck.”  
“Yea, you guys want a ride?” Stiles offers as Scott opens up the door on his side of the car, “hey, come on Jackson – you’re way too pretty to be out here by yourself!”  
“Wow, and I thought it was his better half that you liked, Stiles” I joke back as Jackson hurries over to the Jeep. “Hey boys!” I call out, and they all turn to watch me as I walk up to the front of the car and turn the car on, “told you I know a few things about cars. Thanks for the help, Chris. We’ll talk when I get home later.” I make sure to jingle the strange device in my pocket to make sure that there’s no mistaking what I’m talking about.

We all wait until his car is out of sight before rounding on Jackson. “What, are you following me now?” He demands of Scott.  
“Yes, you stupid freaking idiot! You almost gave away everything right there!” Scott is freaking out right now, he looks like he’s about to have a meltdown. Jackson on the other hand just looks confused, “what are you talking about?”  
“He thinks you’re the second beta!” Scott yells in Jackson’s face.  
“What?” Jackson is taking turns to look at us all. When he turns to face me, I pipe up with, “oh yea, by the way Jackson – that hunter family that I mentioned? In case you haven’t figured it out, it’s the Argents. That’s where the silver myth came from, actually. Silver bullets can’t hurt werewolves any more than normal bullets can, but Argent bullets can. Also, they kind of suspect you to be a werewolf, and if they get ‘proof’, they _will_ kill you.” Scott punches the jeep in frustration, before rounding on Jackson again and shouting, “HE THINKS YOU’RE ME!”  
“dude! My jeep!” Stiles gently protests, and I roll my eyes at him because seriously? He needs to sort out his priorities.  
“I can hear your heart beating from a mile away, literally!” Scott is starting to lose control, and I get ready to step in if needed. “Now he thinks there’s something wrong, and I have to keep an eye on you so he doesn't kill you too!” He goes to punch the jeep again, but Stiles pulls him back. “Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, how about we just step away from Stiles’ jeep?” I throw him a dirty look, and he backs away with his hands raised in the air. “You know what? This is your problem, not mine! Okay? I didn't say anything, which means that you’re the one that’s going to get me killed! Okay, this is your fault!” Jackson shoves Scott into the jeep and I can tell that this is about to turn violent so I command them in my siren voice, “everyone needs to calm down! Now!” The boys all visibly calm down, but I can see that Jackson is confused as to what’s happening, and is fighting the lure of my voice. “Calm down, and let’s talk about this like  _civilized_  people, okay?”  
“What the hell was that?” Jackson rounds on me, “what did you do to me?” He’s struggling to get angry again, but I know that he won’t be able to until either I allow him to or he gets far enough away.  
“Do you remember how I told you that there were other things that go bump in the night?” I ask him, “things worse than werewolves?” “Yea?” he responds questioningly. “Well, I’m one of them.” All of a sudden my vision takes on a slight red tinge, and I can see in the reflection from the car window that my eyes have turned pitch black. Huh, that’s new. I watch them fade back to green as I roll my neck from side to side and take a deep breath.  
“When they come after you, I won’t be able to protect you!” Scott is staring at Jackson and looks devastated, “I can’t protect anyone.”  
“Why are you looking at me?” Stiles asks as Scott turns to look mournfully at him.  
“You know, you don’t have to protect me.” Jackson says, and we all took towards him in surprise, “get me what I want, and I will be fine protecting myself!” Of course, how did I not see this happening?  
“Jackson, do you remember our little chat the other day?” I ask him, “about not asking for that until you had all of the facts?” He rolls his eyes at me and I can hear Stiles giggling under his breath. I shoot a glare at him before continuing, “Obviously, tonight is not the best time for that conversation.” I pull the little device out of my pocket and throw it in the air before catching it again. “One of the hunters planted this on your engine to stop your car. I removed it, so your car is fine to drive. There shouldn't be any further problems. Go home, Jackson. We’ll talk soon.” I put a small amount of compulsion into my voice for the last bit, and am relieved when he turns towards his car and drives off.

I sigh and rub my temples. My entire body is starting to ache with fatigue, and I can feel a migraine coming on. Unfortunately, the worst part of the night is yet to come. “Come on, guys. You can give me a ride home – it’s the least you can do since I just saved your asses at the expense of my own.” The drive back is silent, but as we’re pulling on to my street I quietly say, “I’m truly sorry for doing that to you guys again. I meant to only calm Jackson down, but I’m having a bit of trouble controlling it lately.”  
“S’all good,” Stiles mumbles, “needed to be done.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Jackson is an arrogant idiot again - no surprises there! But it seems that Lissa has finally scared him.  
> I decided to skip over the whole 'finding out Peter is the alpha thing' because it was making my chapter drag on, and Lissa wasn't even there for it.  
> Oooh, Lissa is in trouble now! Or is it Chris? What will she say when she gets in the house to talk herself out of this one? CAN she talk herself out of this situation?  
> All will be revealed in the next chapter, but for now here's a sneak peak at a couple of sections from that conversation:  
> "Allison's not home, we can talk freely." 
> 
> "I don't want any part in this, I never did." 
> 
> "There's something off about that girl, I don't trust her." 
> 
> "I know what you're thinking, but it's not him." 
> 
> And from a later section of the chapter ...  
> "Allison? Allison, what's wrong?"  
> "How could you not tell me?"


	11. Identities Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackson gets everyone in trouble with his arrogance and ignorance. Will Lissa be able to save him? Will she even want to?   
> Uncomfortable conversations are had after secrets are found out, and we find out a bit more about Lissa's past dealings with the supernatural.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is very dialogue heavy, my apologies, but things needed to be explained and once Lissa starts talking it's very hard to get her to shut up sometimes!   
> This isn't the way I was hoping that this chapter would turn out but unfortunately the Argent family are too smart for their own good.

I had expected Chris to be waiting to talk to me when I got home, but what I did not expect was to walk in the front door and see Chris, Victoria and Kate all sitting down in the lounge room. They turned as one to face me as I came around the corner into the room. “Lissa. Please, take a seat,” Victoria said, with a forced smile on her face. I was uncomfortable with having this conversation with Kate in the room but had already gone over my cover story on the drive over. I pull the device out of my pocket and drop it on the coffee table.

“You’re hunters. Why did you put this on Jackson’s car?” I ask, determined to at least start off this conversation with me in control. “He may be a world class prick, but he’s not supernatural.”   
“And how would you know that?” Chris asks, “in fact, how do you know about the supernatural at all, and why did you not tell us?” I sigh heavily and let my fatigue show on my face.   
“As you know, I moved around a fair bit before coming to live with you guys. You seemed to want to keep me in the dark about everything, so I didn’t say anything. I really like living with you guys, it’s the safest house I’ve lived in so far, and by far the most stable environment. Besides, I wasn’t even positive before today, and what would you have done if I’d confronted you and been wrong! You’d have shipped me off for someone less crazy! Or worse, you would have gotten involved, and people die in your line of work. I don’t want you guys to die, not for me. I’m not worth that.” I decided that going for the ‘poor, abandoned girl’ angle was my best chance with this conversation; hopefully I can make them guilty enough that they don’t notice the little white lies peppering my responses. My tactic works and Victoria comes to sit next to me and give me a side hug. “We’re not going to ‘ship you back’ to that awful halfway house, Vasilissa. You’re part of our family now. We just wish you’d trusted us enough to confide in us.” I force some of the tension out of my aching shoulders and allow myself to relax in to her hug. It’s been a long time since someone has held me like that. “And you don’t need to worry about us. Chris and Kate are trained professionals - they know what they’re doing” she continues, “now I know you think you know what’s going on, but you don’t have all of the information. There’s a rogue alpha in Beacon Hills that’s been on a killing spree, and we think one of its betas goes to your school. We have very good reason to believe that Jackson is that beta. If that’s the case, we won’t hurt him. We live by a code, _nous chassons ceux qui nous chassent,_ and if Jackson is innocent, we will leave him alone.”   
“’We hunt those that hunt us?’ That’s the hunter code? Look, if there really is a werewolf in my school it’s not Jackson. He was injured by another lacrosse player recently, and it didn’t heal fast. He had to go to hospital and everything. Are you sure that it’s him?”  
Throughout this whole conversation Kate has been sitting back watching me, but now she leans forward to join the conversation. “We’re not sure who it is, that’s the whole point. You don’t seem too surprised by all of this, though. DO you know something we don’t?” Damn, I let myself relax and forget she was there. She’s too sharp witted for me to be making rookie mistakes like that.   
“I know I should be, but I kind of already figured that there was a werewolf in town. There’s been too many suspicious animal attacks and I’ve heard about them all from my friend Stiles. His dad is on the police force, and he’s morbidly curious about this sort of thing so it’s a regular lunch topic unfortunately.” I start explaining, but cut myself off with a yawn, “sorry, I’m just really exhausted right now. My shoulders and back are really sore today, and it’s made the day drag on.”   
“Oh, should have said something dear. I’ll get you some painkillers. Chris, come help me find them.” I can tell that it’s just an excuse to talk about me without me around, but I’m still left in the room with Kate so I don’t eavesdrop on their conversation.

After nearly ten minutes of uncomfortable silence, with Kate staring shrewdly at me the entire time, Chris walks back into the room with a glass of water and two white tablets. Victoria walks in a minute later with her phone out. “We need to wrap this up soon, Allison is on her way home now.” Chris nods at her as she leaves the room, before handing them to me and sitting down. “You still haven’t explained how you knew what that is, or how you know about the supernatural.”   
“I’ve seen it before. One of my foster fathers was a mechanic, and he got a call out to a car that had broken down. I was with him at the time, learning how to flush the cooling system, so I went with him on the call out. By the time we got there, there were six hunters facing off against two werewolves. We watched in horror as their faces changed shape and they murdered two of the hunters. My foster father tried to help the men but was struck down just as the second werewolf was taken out. He survived, but had to spend a lot of time in hospital recovering from his injuries. His wife didn’t want to look after two people at once, so she sent me back to the orphanage.” This was my first encounter with the supernatural, and I’m hoping that it’ll be horrific and detailed enough that they’ll stop asking me questions afterwards. “I saw one of the hunters taking one of those things off the engine and I asked him what it was. That was when they noticed me, standing there shivering in fear by my foster father as he bled out. They explained to me that they were like the supernatural police force as we waited for an ambulance, and told me what I had to tell the police. I promised not to tell, not that anyone would believe me, and vowed to myself that I would never let myself or someone I cared about be hurt like that again. When my next foster family offered to teach me some basic self-defence, I jumped at the opportunity. Unfortunately Child Services found out that they were teaching us how to use weapons a few months later and I was removed from the house, but not before I learnt enough to be confident that I could take care of myself.” At this point I bend over and pull one of my daggers out of the holster strapped to my ankle, “I never leave the house without one of these hidden on me somewhere, haven’t for nearly three years.”   
Chris is looking at me in shock, but Kate is looking at me in a calculating manner. She is about to speak when we hear the door open and Allison walk inside. I quickly shove the dagger back in my boot and adopt a more relaxed position on the couch, as do Kate and Chris.

Allison is looking very upset as she goes to walk by the living room, but stops as she notices us all in there. “Hey guys, is everything alright?”   
“Yes, Lissa here was just telling us that she’s having some back problems. What about you chickadee? You okay?” Kate responds smoothly.   
“I went to talk to Scott,” Allison starts to say, as she sits down next to Kate and pulls her shoes off. Chris obviously decides that this isn’t a conversation that he wants to be a part of so he reaches over to the coffee table and grabs the device, before nodding at us uncomfortably and exiting the room.   
He said he wanted to talk to me to, but then his mum left for a date and he went all weird. He said he’d only be a couple of minutes, but I waited there for an hour and he didn’t come back.” What the hell? Scott has been pining over Allison ever since she dumped him, and he ditches her to stalk his mom on her date? Something doesn’t sound right here. I can feel someone watching me so I look over to the girls to see that Allison has put her shoes back on, and they’re both looking at me expectantly. “Sorry, what did you say?”   
“Kate asked if you want to come with us? She says she thinks she knows a way to cheer me up. DO you want to come?” Allison asks. I don’t like the way that Kate is looking at me, and don’t fancy my chances of dodging awkward questions whilst I’m alone with her, I decline the offer with the excuse of needing to sleep off my back pain. As soon as they’ve left the house, however, I pull out my phone to call Scott.

 

* * *

 

I've tried Scott five times with no answer, so I message Stiles instead.

**Message to: Stilinski brat**

8:54pm 

You up?

_Is the pope Catholic?_

Right, stupid question. You heard from Scott tonight?

_Not since he left to rescue idiot of the year from Derek._  

WHAT??

_Peter took Scott’s mum on a date so he could change her to get Scott to join his pack. I crashed into him and stopped it, but Melissa is super pissed at me now. It was just a distraction though coz Jackson is off meeting Derek and Derek’s gunna kill him (good riddance). I parked opposite Jackson’s house and saw him get in just before so obviously that went ok but Scott’s not replying._

What the hell? I can’t leave you guys to do anything! Where would Scott go if he got injured by Derek?

_My house. He hasn't shown up here though._

Okay, we need to find out what happened. Come get me and we’ll interrogate Jackson.

_Be there in 10._

I scribble out a note to Chris and Victoria in case they come looking for me, and am out the front waiting for Stiles by the time he gets there. Whatever Chris gave me seems to have worked on my back as the pain is gone now, and I can focus my whole attention on finding out what the hell happened tonight.

“No, you’re staying in the car.” I say as Stiles tries to get out at Jackson’s house, “he’s going to be more responsive to me if you’re not there, so wait here.” He slumps back into his seat with a huff and I smirk at him as I get out of the car. “Good boy.”

An older gentleman in a suit opens the door to me, looks me up and down and sighs. “He’s in his room, third door on the left upstairs. Try to be quiet, I have an early morning.” Thank goodness Stiles wasn't with me. That’s one conversation I never want him to find out about.

“Knock, knock,” I call out, before barging in to Jackson’s room. He looks pale and shaky, which doesn't make me feel any better about Scott’s non-responsivity. “Hey Jackson. Heard you had a big night?” I say as I let myself in to his room, and plonk down on his desk chair. I lift my legs up to rest on his desk so that my skirt creeps up a bit and he can see the dagger that’s attached to my upper thigh. He gulps audibly before his eyes flicker to his closed bedroom door behind me. “I’m not answering any of your questions until you start answering mine. None of this is making sense, and you seem to be at the center of it!”   
“Fair enough. I did promise to answer your questions before that stunt with Chris this afternoon. How about we go question for question?” I offer him the compromise as I pull his sheet of questions out of my bra. His shaky nod is all the answer I need. “Okay. As I sign of good faith, I’ll go first. Question 1: _How do you actually become a werewolf?_ Well, there’s two ways. The first and easiest way is to be born one. There are several established wolf families in America, the Hale family used to be one of the biggest. Not every child born of a wolf becomes one though, especially if only one parent is a born wolf. The other way is to be bitten and it has to be done by an alpha. Most alphas do a screening check on the person before they bite them, to make sure that they will fit in with the rest of the pack’s dynamic. The alpha we have in Beacon Hills at the moment is psychotic, literally, so he just bit the first person he came across and hoped for the best. The problem with bitten wolves though is that not everyone who gets the bite can become a werewolf, you have to have the potential in your genetic code already. If you don’t have the potential, you die within a couple of days, it’s quite a painful process I’m told. There’s only about a 45% chance that the bite will take. People who are already supernatural aren't affected by an alpha’s bite though. Where did you meet with Derek?”   
“At some creepy burnt out house in the woods. Wait, people can die from the bite?” Damn, I was hoping that wasn't the case. It’ll be hard to find Scott if he’s wondering around the preserve injured.   
“Yes. You either die or you change, there is no other option. Question 2: _Are the Argents hunters?_ Yes, the Argents are hunters. They are from a family line of hunters as old as werewolves. They’re not the only ones though. What happened at the house?”   
“What? No, that doesn't count as an answer, I already knew that from today! Answer another one!” I sigh heavily. I knew he would respond like that, but had hoped that he wouldn't. I really needed to figure out what happened to Scott.   
“Fine! But the next one is a two part question so if you don’t give me something good I’m going to have to make you tell me. Trust me, you don’t want that.” He looks shaken by that and nods his head.  
“Okay, Question 3: _Are you a hunter now? And if so would you tell them about me?_   No, I’m not a hunter. Up until today the Argents didn't even know that I knew about the supernatural. Unfortunately I had to reveal that in order to save your arse. So no, I wouldn't rat you out. I actually saved you twice today. The Argents thought that you were the second beta, but I managed to convince them otherwise. You’re welcome, by the way, and if you even think about ‘ratting out’ Scott, I’ll hide your body so well that not even a werewolf could sniff out the remains of your corpse.” I take my legs down from his desk and turn to face him on his bed so that he knows I mean business. “Now, what happened at the house?”  
“I showed up at the house and your psycho friend Derek started rambling before he went to try and kill me! Suddenly Scott was there and he was about to fight Derek when some psychos started shooting at the house! Derek told us to run then went to face them shooters. I got out and came straight home.” What? Hunters showed up at the house! What if they saw Scott? Oh, god. What if they have Scott now! “What happened to Scott, Jackson?”   
“No, you answer another question first! Otherwise I know you’ll be straight out of here and I’ll never find out!” Oh god that sounds like something bad happened. Jackson knows that he has something over me now, so the only way to find out what happened to Scott is to answer his damn questions. “Fine! Question 4: _Is the silver bullet thing real or myth?_   Both. Silver bullets do no more damage than a normal bullet, but _Argent_ bullets will kill a werewolf. Like I said, the Argent family have been hunters for a long time. Question 5: _How fast and strong will I become?_ It depends on your physical state before-hand. If your body doesn't reject the bite, it will enhance all of your physical and mental attributes that you had before. Fast runners become faster, strong people become stronger and some people become really good at tracking. Question 6: _How did Scott become one?_   Remember how I said we had a psycho alpha on the loose? Scott was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The alpha had just woken up from a sic year coma, and Scott was the first human that he happened across after he killed his own niece to steal her alpha power from her. He was lucky enough to survive the bite, but he sees it as a curse. Question 7: _What other things go bump in the night? Is everything real?_ No, not everything is real, but a lot of things are. We don’t have time for me to list them all, it would literally take all night. Question 8: _Will it show up in a blood test?_   Oh my gods, you’re so narcissistic. No, it won’t it will just show that you have an unusually active immune system. I would advise against going pro though, as it will attract the attention of hunters. Now, what the hell happened tonight?”   
Jackson sits there looking flabbergasted for a few seconds before catching a look at the anger on my face. “Me and Scott escaped out the back door but he got shot with something and he was leaking black blood. It was really gross and he was slowing me down so I left him and ran straight to where I’d hidden my car. I saw that vet he works for putting him in his car though when I was driving away.” I can’t believe it. Deaton has Scott, what if he’s not a friendly? “Now get out of my house, I've told you all I know!” He doesn't need to tell me twice, I’m rushing out of his house before he’s finished speaking. I nearly knock Lydia over on my way out to Stiles’ jeep and call out a hurried ‘sorry!’ behind me as I jump into the car.

 

* * *

 

“What? His work, why?” Stiles is asking, but the car is already pulling out onto the road so I take a second to catch my breath before responding.   
“Scott got shot by hunters when he was trying to save that arse’s life. The coward then left him for dead in the woods as he ran away to save his own life. He saw Deaton putting Scott’s unconscious body into his car as he drove away. I know he’s Scott’s boss but he obviously knows more than he’s letting on and I’m not leaving him with Scott when he could be dying! It sounds like they used wolfsbane bullets.” I can feel my emotions starting to get out of hand as a wail begins to form in my throat but I can’t afford for Stiles to get distracted right now so I close my eyes and slowly let the tears drip down my cheeks as I dig my claws into my palms. The pain helps center me and I’m calm again by the time we've reached Scott’s work.

The front door is unlocked, so I enter first with Stiles holding up a baseball bat behind me – does he even play baseball? Using my enhanced hearing, I can hear a squelching sound and then a small metallic plonk. I can also hear two steady heartbeats, so I breathe a small sigh of relief. Stiles taps me on the shoulder to see why I've stopped and I put my finger to my lips before leaning towards him and whispering, “They’re both in the back. He’s alive.” I lift my hand to open the gate at the counter that leads to the back when I’m stopped by an invisible force. I try again, more forcefully this time, and am thrown backwards onto the floor by the backlash. The noise in the backroom stops, then a single pair of footsteps can be heard coming towards us.

The man who I can only assume to be Deaton walks around the corner and looks down at me on the floor calculatingly. He has a pale yellow aura about him and I am confused as I haven’t come across that color before.   
“Sorry, we’re closed.” He addresses me on the floor. Seriously? He obviously knows that I’m supernatural since I set off his defense system. Why is he playing dumb? “Stiles, it’s a pleasure to see you again under more friendly circumstances.”   
“What are you?” I ask, brushing the dirt off my bum as I stand up.   
“I’m a veterinarian.” He looks at me with that serene smile, and I suddenly feel like strangling him for being so calm. I can’t feel him behind that barrier at the counter, so I doubt that my siren abilities will be able to help me here.   
“Mr. Deaton, we’re here for Scott. We know you have him, we just want to know that he’s okay.” Stiles explains, “he is okay, isn't he?” Deaton looks curiously over at Stiles and he obviously sees something he likes in Stiles’ worried expression, because he opens the gate and steps back. Stiles pushes past him to the back room and I follow wearily at a slower pace.   
“I’m a friendly, sir. I know that my friend is injured, and I want to make sure he’s okay.” He smiles that annoying smile again before walking ahead of me.

I enter the examination room out the back and realise what that sound was before. Deaton has Scott laid out on the examination table and is removing bullets from his torso. After he removes each bullet he pours a clear liquid into the wound and a black puff of smoke comes out before the wound starts to close over.   
“Will he be alright?” Stiles is asking, but before he can receive a reply Scott gasps loudly as he comes to. Scott has a dazed look on his face as he looks to Deaton. He hasn't noticed Stiles and me standing in the corner of the room, and I place a restraining arm over Stiles’ bicep to keep him in place.   
“I wouldn't get up just yet.” Deaton smiles at Scott as he lays his head back down on the examination table. “You’re fine. I’ll clean this up and that should speed up the healing process.” Scott has a dopey look on his face as he asks, “But you’re a vet?” he obviously doesn't know what his boss is, either. “That’s very true,” Deaton replies as he leans over to clean up the blood around Scott’s wound, “and 90% of the time I’m mostly treating cats and dogs.”   
“Mostly?” Scott asks him.   
“Mostly.” Deaton smiles that irritatingly serene smile back at Scott as he passes out again.

I know now that, whatever he may be, Scott’s boss obviously has his best interests at heart. He obviously won’t answer any more of our questions tonight and I don’t want him asking me anything until I can consult my guide book and figure out what he is exactly. “Thank you for looking after our friend. We should be getting home now, can you please get him to call me or Stiles when he wakes up again?” Stiles looks like he is about to protest, but Deaton just nods and gestures towards the open door so I grab his arm and drag him out to the car.

“Lissa! We can’t just leave him there!”   
“We can and we will!” I say as I wait impatiently by the passenger door of the jeep, “Come back here if you will, but that man is supernatural and I am not comfortable being around him until I know what he is.”   
“Wait, he had an aura? That’s even more reason to not leave him alone with Scott!” Stiles seems adamant that he doesn't want to leave, so I huff and reach down to pull off my shoes. “Wait, why are you taking your shoes off?” He reaches down to cover his groin area.   
“I’m not going to throw them at you, idiot! These are my favorite boots, but I can’t run with four inch heels on. I don’t live far from here, message me if there’s any change. I’m going home to look Deaton up.” Before he can respond I've already taken off towards home. This day just doesn't seem to end.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah! Isn't Jackson just so full of himself? He just has to make everything difficult, doesn't he? And then Lydia saw her leaving Jackson's house late at night? I wonder what she thinks happened? ;)   
> An excerpt from the next chapter:   
> "Peter! Fancy seeing you here, in a dress shop of all places. Allison, I think Stiles needs saving from Lydia. Can you drag her to the changing rooms? She's got 12 dresses already!"


	12. Hello Peter.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Formal time! That means dress shopping and ... did I hear that it's someone's birthday?   
> Plus, we get to meet Alpha Peter in person for the first time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Yes, I know i'm horrible and I said it would only be one or two days but I had major writer's block. Fear not, though! I am already halfway through writing the next chapter, so it should be up very soon!

“You know, I get that you’re torturing Lydia for what she did with Scott, but I don’t get why I have to be punished too. I don’t even want to go to the winter formal.” I complain, yet again, to Allison as we pull in to a parking space at the mall, “not only are you making me go, but you’re also dragging me dress shopping with you both? I’m never going to choose a dress that I actually like.” Allison just ignores me and walks towards where Lydia is waiting for us at the entrance. I consider making a run for it, but I want to see Lydia’s face when Allison tells her who her date to the dance is going to be.

The smell from the perfume section is making my hypersensitive nose itch as we enter and I look over to see Stiles standing there awkwardly. Lydia and Allison reach the top of the escalator and I can hear the tail end of Allison telling Lydia the news that will make Stiles’ week. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Lydia asks Allison. “It means you’re going to cancel on whatever dumb, ‘roided-up jock you said yes to, and you’re going to go with someone else.” I’m trying to hard not to burst out laughing at the look on Lydia’s face when Allison looks towards Stiles and says, “Him.” He seems to have chosen that moment to spray himself in the face with an obnoxious smelling perfume and starts sneezing to try and get it out of his nose.   
“Aww don’t frown, Lydia. Someone could be falling in love with your smile.” If looks could kill, Allison would be six feet under from the glare that Lydia is sending her right now. I decide then and there that I never want to get on Allison’s bad side – she seems to be enjoying this way too much.

We’ve been in this same store looking at dresses for over an hour now, and I’m trying to decide whether I can get away with taking a nap until the girls have found their ‘perfect dress’ when I see it. At first glance I think it’s just Scott again as he’s been hiding on the other side of the store, listening in to make sure that we’re safe but I do a double take when I realise that the aura I can see is a much darker purple than Scott’s. Extending my hearing in the alpha’s direction, I’m alarmed to hear that he’s talking to Allison. Scott is obviously listening in and no doubt about to do something stupid to stop their conversation, so I casually walk over to his hiding place and whisper, “Scott!” that boy needs to be more aware of his surroundings, he jumps so much that he nearly knocks over the mannequin that he’s hiding behind. I raise my finger to my lips to indicate that he needs to keep quiet, then start walking towards Allison and Peter.

“Peter!” I exclaim, walking up to him like we’re old friends, “what a surprise to see you here. Allison, I know that you want to torture Lydia but can you please rescue Stiles? She’s got him carrying at least ten dresses for her by now, and I know she doesn’t actually want at least half of them.” Allison gives us both a weird look, but I smile and nod convincingly at her until she walks away.   
“Clever. I assume you’re one of Scott’s friends, then?” Peter asks me. He’s obviously trying to be charming, but all I can see is a creepy old man. “Am I to assume that Scott is hiding here somewhere, then? Scott, come on out and join us.” He doesn’t raise his voice above normal conversation tone, and I can tell that he’s testing to see how much I know.   
“Give it up, Peter. I know exactly who and what you are.” I tell him, making sure to seem as unassuming and innocent as possible, “Just like I know that you know exactly who Allison is, and what our family does for a living.” I finally manage to get a reaction out of him. He seems taken aback at my including myself in the Argent family. “Ah, there we go. Now, I haven’t told Chris who you are yet, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t. You’re going to leave us, and Scott’s family, alone. He is safe under the hunter’s code, but you? You’ve spilled human blood, Peter. The only thing coming your way is an execution.” I can see Scott and Stiles watching me from the corner of my eye, but I don’t see Allison or Lydia anywhere. I extend my hearing outward and slowly search the store for their whereabouts while still paying attention to Peter. I know that one second of distraction is all that he needs to get the upper hand. Thankfully I can hear them in the changing rooms, discussing my friendship with ‘the creepy older man’. Great, another thing that I’ll have to talk my way out of later. “Now, you’re going to leave this store, Peter, and you’re going to do it without fuss.” I allow a hint of malice to enter my voice, and draw myself up to my full height, “otherwise, I’m going to cause a scene and draw the security guards over here. I’m sure that you’ll have a fun time explaining how you’re not a comatose burn victim to them.” I may not be able to expose him as a werewolf just yet, but there are plenty of human ways to inconvenience him and I am a damn good actor when I need to be.  

The only response I get is a smirk, before he brushes past me towards the store exit. I keep my eyes and ears on him as he stops to address Scott, “you may have won this round, Scott, but you can’t protect everyone. And you can’t be everywhere. If you want to keep sending your fragile human friends in to do your dirty work, you’d better be prepared to sacrifice a few pawns along the way.” He obviously believes me to be human and underestimates me. Good. I prefer to have people believe that I’m weak and helpless, because it makes it easier to beat them at their own game later. The only problem is, we don’t know what Peter’s end game is.

 

* * *

 

“Four hours! How can it possibly have taken them four hours to pick dresses,” I moan to Stiles as we finally leave the mall. “And then she went and bought the third dress she tried on. I don’t understand females!”   
“uh, dude, you are a female.” Stiles remarks, “and it took you two hours to find your dress, so what’s the difference?”   
“The difference, Stiles, is that I spend 30 minutes of that two hours taking a nap in the changing rooms. The other girls didn’t notice because they were on the other side of the store looking at the blue dresses,” I reply with a smirk, “besides – this dress doubles as my sweet sixteen present from Chris and Victoria. I had to make sure it was something that they would approve of, but that also looked nice.”

“Who’s turning sweet sixteen?” Lydia asks as her and Allison come up behind us with their purchases.   
“Um, that would be me.” I reply. Damn, I was hoping to keep my birthday on the down low, “it’s kind of my birthday tomorrow.”   
“And you’re spending it by going to a dance alone?” she replies with a smug smile on her face, “how tragic. Come along Allison, Stiles can give Lissa a ride home. We’ve got girl things to do this evening.”

“Told you I’m not really a girl,” I say as I haphazardly throw my dress bag in the backseat of Stiles’ Jeep, “I’m actually just a really well disguised dog.” Scott’s scoff from the other side of the carpark alerts me that he’s listening in, “Oh, wait, that’s Scott. Come here boy, come here!” I turn to the direction that he’s in and clap my hands like I’m calling a dog over. It’s never the wrong time to make dog jokes to a werewolf.   
“Oh my god, how have I not made dog jokes at him yet?” Stiles flails from the driver’s side. “I’m a failure of a best friend.”   
“Don’t worry, young padawan, for you still have much time to learn.” I say with a deadly straight face, as I pretend to use the force to open the car door.   
“You’ve seen Star Wars!” Stiles is really excited now, “It’s official. You’re my new best friend.” The look on Scott’s face as he approaches the car is so crestfallen that we can’t help but to both burst out laughing. Stiles finally calms down enough to add, “Come on, boy. In you get – you’re still this man’s best friend!” Which sets us both off all over again.

 

* * *

 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” comes a chorus of screams as I am putting my books into my locker. I jump and turn around, everything is hypersensitive today and my head is pounding like I have a migraine coming again. I had another vision last night, but what I saw was very confusing. Standing behind me and all holding out presents are Scott, Stiles, Allison, Lydia and … and Danny?   
“Um, thanks guys.” I say as they pile the presents into my arms, “I’ll open them at lunch. How?”   
“Well, you didn’t give us much notice, but I called around last night and we all went present shopping for you.” Lydia explains with a smile, “Sorry for the brush-off last night, but it’s much better as a surprise – don’t you think?”   
“Yea, thanks Lydia.” I’m flabbergasted, I didn’t realise she cared about me, “this is so nice of you guys. You’ve just made my day about twenty times better!” I can’t help the huge smile that’s covering my face. The only thing that would make this day any better would be if my migraine would go away.   
“Well, we have to get to class now, but we’ll see you at Lunch?” Danny asks with a friendly grin, but walks away before I can respond.   
“Hey, you have a free period right now, right?” Stiles asks as the girls follow Danny down the hall.   
“Yea, I was thinking of going to the bleachers on the far side of the oval and having a nap,” I respond guiltily, “does that make me a horrible person? It’s just, I had this weird vision last night, and it started with me waking up from having a nap on the bleachers. I know it sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy, but what I saw in my vision? It seems impossible, and this is a siren talking to a werewolf and a human in a high school.”   
“What happened in your vision?” Scott asks me warily.   
“I flew.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also sorry that this chapter is so short! I got to 4000 words, then realised how long it was so I've split the chapter into two. This also conveniently ended it on a small cliffhanger ;)   
> Next chapter: The formal. How will the confrontation with Peter go down, now that there's a Siren added into the mix?


	13. An unexpected visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phew! So glad that AO3 managed to sort out that little snafu last night.  
> As promised, the next chapter.  
> It's finally Lissa's 16th birthday, and the day of the Winter Formal. It'll certainly be a day to remember, that's for sure!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm terrible at descriptions of clothing, so I'm posting links to Lissa's outfit and hair at the end of the chapter.  
> Also, there will be a couple of Russian words in this chapter, but i'm putting the translations in the end chapter notes.

It is an agonizing ache all over my upper body that wakes me up from my brief nap. I roll the wrong way and fall off the back of the bleachers. Using the support beams, I drag myself upright and stumble into the woods. From what I can remember, this is happening exactly like it did in my dream. I hear a ripping sound and my duffle bag falls off my shoulder, the strap broken. When I try to pick it up, I find that it is too painful to move. Collapsing to my knees, I can see that I've made it about ten meters past the tree line. A small whimper makes its way past my lips before I clamp my jaw shut, it feels like tiny needles are pricking my skin all over both my arms, and my torso feels like it’s splitting in half. My vision is starting to blur from the pain as I collapse to the ground, but I can see a leather clad woman with long red hair approaching me. As I pass out, I swear I can hear the croon of my mother’s voice calling out, “Shhh, now Vasilissa. It will all be okay.”

 

* * *

The first thing that I notice when I come to is that I am not lying on the ground but on someone’s lap, and that someone is gently stroking my hair as she croons a lullaby in Russian.  
“Mom?” I whisper, before trying to sit up, “what are you doing here?” As she helps me up, I notice that my arms are covered in a blanket of black feathers. Wait, that’s not a blanket! “Holy mother of Medusa!” I cry out, “My arms! My arms are feathers!” I go to move my arms up and down and the momentum carries me half a foot off the ground.  
“Calm down, child! I can explain everything!” My mother explains as she gets up and dusts herself off. “This is all perfectly natural I can assure you, but you need to calm down so I can teach you how to put them away.” As she takes off her black leather jacket and rolls how shoulders, I begin to take deep, calming breaths. In the blink of an eye, the air around my mother shimmers and suddenly she has her own set of blood red wings. “Yours will begin to change color as you take human life. Each feather represents a human life taken. The blacker your wings, the purer your soul. Unfortunately custom dictated that I was not allowed to tell you of this until your birthday, as you did not grow up in our community.”  
“But, mum, your wings – there’s not a single black feather left!” I start to hyperventilate again. I knew my mother had taken human lives before, but there must be thousands of feathers on each arm. How much blood had she shed?  
“Calm yourself, milaya!” She orders me, “You must remember that I have lived many thousands of years. Remember what you are, child. You too will have red in your ledger soon. Now, you must calm yourself, and picture your human arms. Once you have got an image of them in your mind, will your wings to change back. The first time will be painful, but after that, it will be painless again.”

I close my eyes and try to envision my arms but images of my mother luring countless men to their deaths keep flashing before my eyes. I shake my head and try to clear my mind first. Finally after at least five minutes have past my mind is empty, and I focus my will on changing my wings back to human arms. A sensation of slime trickles down from my shoulders to my fingertips and when I crack open my eyes I can see that, though my shirt is in tatters, my wings have gone. “I did it!” I exclaim, looking up, “Mum, I” but there’s no-one there. Instead, there is a small package and an envelope lying on the ground where my mother was standing just minutes before – the only proof that I didn't just dream her up. “She didn't even say goodbye.” I slowly walk over to my bag and grab out the clothes that I foresaw I would need to pack before changing out of my tattered top and sitting down on the ground next to the package. Reaching out, I pick up the envelope and take out the letter.

_My dear Vasilissa,_

_I am so sorry that I could not stay. The sisters were very angry that I would not let them come and see you yet, and I did not want to test their patience any more._  
I am sure that things have been very confusing for you recently and I am so sorry about that, but now that you are sixteen things will hopefully become clearer. Over the last few weeks your gifts will have been going haywire, but they should settle by sundown today. You must practice your compulsion as it will be ochen’ moshchnyy compared to before. I have faith in you rebenok, you will get through this.  
I hope that your new family is treating you well, I was not aware that you had moved. I would have been here much sooner, but I had to track you down.  
It is my hope that you never have to stain your wings as I have mine, but if you ever wish to join us simply pray to Sister Persephone and she will find you.  
Stay safe, I will come for you again on the eve of your 18 th birthday.  
Always,  
Natalia Romanov. 

Wiping the stray tear from my cheek, I look at my phone and am startled to find that I have not even been out here for an entire hour. I stuff the unopened package and mum’s letter into my bag and hurry back towards the school. If I run, I might not be late for Econ with Coach.

 

* * *

“Okay, which present am I opening first?” I ask the table as we sit down for lunch.  
“Mine!” Stiles raises his arm up in the air like he’s trying to get the teacher’s attention in class. “I call dibs, open mine first!” It’s not hard to tell which one is from Stiles. I point to the fluoro orange box with fluoro green ribbon tied around it, “is that it? The one with the wrapping that actually hurts my eyes?” He goes to protest but is silenced by everyone’s laughter. I tear away the wrapping paper to find that Stiles has given me a book. “’F in Exams: The Very Best Totally Wrong Test Answers’? Really?” I ask him with a laugh, “Since when do I ever get a test question wrong?” The next present is shoved into my hands and I check the tag to see that it is from Danny and Lydia together. Something clinks as the box moves across the table and I’m suddenly weary, “guys, is this something that I can open in the school cafeteria? Or should I wait until later?”  
“Oh, just take a peek! It’ll be fine.” Danny says with a smirk on his face. I tear off the wrapping paper and open the lid of the box slightly. Inside is two bottles of Russian vodka and a shot glass. As soon as I can see what’s in the box Danny shuts the lid and says, “That’s to make the dance tonight tolerable.”

The next gift that’s handed to me is an envelope from Allison. Inside is a card and a gift voucher for the sporting goods store, “I remembered that you took an interest in that thing me and Kate were doing the other night, so I thought we could go shopping and get you some fun toys to practice with?” she asks me questioningly. Oooh, a shopping trip for weapons – this is definitely my favorite present so far! The last present on the table is from Scott. He pushes it towards me and says, “Don’t worry, this one’s safe to open at school.”  
I open it up to find an assortment of presents inside a box, and start taking them out to show the others. There’s band aids that look like bacon strips, a mini Tardis filled with hard candy, a framed photo of him, Stiles and myself and a set of fake tattoo sleeves in there.  
“You guys, thank you so much!” I exclaim as I start packing the presents back into their boxes, “this has been my best birthday yet, and I expect dances from everyone tonight. Even Scott, who isn't actually allowed to be there.”  
I glance down at my bag as the five minute warning bell goes, mum’s present is itching to be opened but I can’t do it in front of Allison. I’ll have to open it when I get home from school this afternoon.

 

* * *

It’s a relief when I can finally be alone in my room after school. Victoria had been waiting for us when school got out, ready to take me to my driving test. After I passed that with flying colors, she wanted to know every detail about my day so far. Luckily Allison was able to convince her to let us go upstairs and get ready for the dance tonight, so I was finally able to sit in silence and process everything that had happened so far today. I saw my mum! I wish that she didn't have to leave so quickly, but at the same time I’m kind of glad that she left so abruptly. If I’m being honest with myself, I’m slightly terrified of her after seeing her wings. Oh my gosh, I have wings! After checking that my curtains are closed and my door is locked, I pull off my top and concentrate on releasing them again. Now that I’m not in so much pain, I have time to inspect them. They’re so … soft, like a baby swan. But I can feel the power coursing through them, just as I can feel the fabric of my bed sheets as I spread them back as far as I can reach. It’s so strange, every nerve ending feels like it’s been boosted to be ten times as sensitive. Everything feels so foreign, but so right at the same time. I do a small twirl and end up floating half a meter into the air, bumping my head against the roof, before falling rather ungracefully into a heap on my floor. With a small giggle, I picture my arms again and the slimy feeling covers my wings before they shimmer and go back to normal. Glancing at the clock I realise that I've wasted a lot of time so, with a sigh, I get up and begin getting ready for tonight.

It only takes me an hour to get ready, so I decide to message Stiles to kill time until I can leave for the dance.

 

**Message to: Approximately 92 sobbing horses**

6:25pm

When did you even get my phone to change your name again?

_Today, when you were opening your presents. :p_

Of course.

Oh hey, that reminds me. I saw my mum today. She gave me a present.

_WHAT? Dude, how did you not tell us this already?_ _L What was your mum doing in town? How long is she here for? Can we meet her, or would that be weird?_

Chill, she only stayed for, like 5 mins max.

I haven’t opened my present yet.

_You ok? Why not? Presents are awesome! Especially my presents. As in, presents for me. Or from me._

Last time I saw her, she told me I was a mythical creature of the night and gave me a magical guide book to teach myself about myself. I’m kind of worried that it’s be, like, a portkey or something and I’ll end up in Avalon with the siren colony.

_You’re a Potterhead? Dude, what house are you in??_

_Wait, that’s irrelevant. I’m sure it’s fine._

_You’ll never know if you don’t open it._

_Did you open it yet?_

_Let me know what it is!_

Chill! I’m about to open it. I’ll let you know what it is in a minute.

 

I close my phone and reach over to my bag, pulling out the thin package from underneath my biology textbook. With shaking hands, I tear the paper off to find … another letter? Looking underneath the letter, I can see that it’s a manila folder with legal looking papers in it.

_My dearest Vasilissa,_

_When I learnt that I was pregnant with you, I contacted your father’s lawyers. Your father was a very wealthy man named Anatoli Volkov. After I drowned his family, there was nobody left to take over his family’s company. The company was bought out and the money was going to go to a distant cousin of yours. When a DNA test proved who you were, however, the money got put in a trust for you._  
Now that you are 16, you are entitled to a portion of that money. I have set it up in an American bank, so all you have to do is sign and mail off those forms and the money is yours.  
Please use it wisely, and remember – there is no shame in what we are. It is, and always will be, up to you as to which path you choose, but I will love you whether or not you accept your heritage and birthright.   
Always,  
Natalia Romanov. 

**New message from: Approximately 99 sobbing horses**

7:31pm

_Dude, are you dead? What is it?_

Yes, idiot. I’m dead. That’s how I was able to answer your message.

I got my Gringotts key.

_What??_

It’s a bank account that my mum set up for me. Well, it’s papers for one. Curly fries on me next week after I’ve sent off the paperwork?

_Oh my god, how did I not get that? Dishonor on me, on my family, on my cow …_

Whatever, Mushu. Go pick up your date, I’ll see you at the dance.

 

I tuck the papers under my pillow to look at later and check my reflection one last time in the river. My side braid is artfully messy, as long as I don’t dance too crazily tonight, it shouldn't fall out.  I slip into my pink heels, grateful that the extra height means my dress won’t drag along the ground, and make my way downstairs to where Kate is waiting to drive me to the dance.

“Wowee, you look stunning!” She calls out as I round the corner to the living room. “You should wear your hair down more often, girl, I had no idea it was that long!”  
“Uh, thanks Kate. It’s too much effort to look after usually, but I figured that tonight was a good enough reason to make an exception. “Are you ready to take me now?”  
“Hang on, Vasilissa!” Victoria calls from the kitchen, “We just have to give you your present first, then take pictures.” I groan good-naturedly as Victoria and Chris come towards me with a small box. Opening it up, I see that they got me … a key? “Go on, Chris picked it up this afternoon while you were getting ready. It’s in the driveway.” Wait a second, a key? They didn't!

I rush outside to see a new car sitting in the driveway, complete with a big red bow on the windscreen. It’s nothing fancy, but still. They got me a car! “Oh my gosh, you guys! This is too much!” I exclaim, running over to take a closer look. It’s a Fiat Panda, in the most gorgeous shade of blue. “Thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means to me!” I run over and embrace all three adults quickly, before stepping back towards my new car. This has officially been the best day ever.

“Yes, well, just make sure to drive safely, and obey all road laws.” Chris says with a smile, “we’ll see you after the dance. Have a great night.” I look back to see that they’re all going back inside before unlocking my new car and sitting in the driver’s seat for a minute. I can’t wait to name her.

 

* * *

Scott is already waiting by the fire door when I get in the dance, so I quickly let him in before going off to find Danny and his date. Allison, Jackson, Lydia and Stiles are still outside, but I’ll catch up with them later. ‘Barbie Girl’ by Aqua comes on as I reach him and his boyfriend sitting at a table and I laugh before dragging them to their feet to dance with me. Five songs later we’re interrupted by Scott frantically pulling Danny away to dance with him. His boyfriend looks annoyed, even after it becomes obvious that Scott is only doing this to get Coach to allow him to stay, so I lean over and whisper in his ear, “That’s Scott, he’s on the lacrosse team. Coach banned him from coming tonight because he’s on academic probation and the only other option was kicking him off the team. He just wanted to embarrass Coach, so that he’d be allowed to stay.” He still looks worried, so I add a little bit of compulsion into my voice before adding, “there’s nothing to worry about, it’s fine.” A slow song comes on and everyone pairs off, so I retreat to the punch table and pour myself a glass.

I’m starting to get really bored but I can’t leave yet as I am Allison’s ride home tonight, so I decide to go outside for some fresh air and breathing space. The gym is starting to smell very strongly of human sweat and I’m sick of all the appraising looks that I've been getting from guys over the last hour.

I decide to try flying to pass the time, so I start walking towards the lacrosse field when I hear Lydia out there, calling for Jackson. Suddenly the flood lights come on and I start to get a bad feeling. Suddenly I hear Stiles screaming at her to run – when did they even leave the gym? – followed by an alpha roar. I’m flat out sprinting by now, kicking my heels off as I reach the grass, but I know that I’ll be too late. Peter and Stiles are both on all fours, with Lydia underneath Peter.  
“don’t kill her, please!” Stiles begs. I tune out their conversation as I run towards them, knowing that they’re both dead if I don’t get there in time.

Peter roaring “TELL ME!” jolts me to a halt. He’s going to attract every hunter in the area if he doesn't pipe down. I reach them as Stiles is telling him that he thinks Derek took Scott’s phone. “Why?” Peter asks him, looking more annoyed by the second. He briefly glances up to see me standing there panting for breath, but seems do dismiss me as not a threat because he pulls his attention straight back to Stiles.  
“They all have GPS now,” Stiles explains, “So if he still has it, and if it’s still on, you can find him.”

“Oh my gods, Stiles! You’re telling me that you've had a way to find Derek this whole time, and you said nothing?” I can’t believe that boy sometimes, “and you know how much Scott’s been freaking out about that phone!

Peter seems content to continue with his plan of ignoring my presence as he stands up and pulls a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe Lydia’s blood off his hand, but Stiles at least manages to look the slightest bit guilty through his terror.

“Well then, I guess you’re coming with me, Stiles.” Peter states as he looks down upon Stiles, “you’re going to help me find my nephew.” I fall to my knees and swat Stiles hands away as I check Lydia’s pulse. She’s still breathing, thankfully, but her pulse is really weak.  
“No! I’m not just letting you leave her here!” Stiles yells up at Peter. I’m starting to get a little annoyed at being ignored, but it is working to my favor as I try to figure out how exactly I’m going to get Lydia back to the school safely. I can’t tell if she’s injured anywhere else, but her aura is slowly becoming more opaque as the minutes tick on.  
“You don’t have a choice, Stiles,” Peter says as he wipes the last of Lydia’s blood of his face, “you’re coming with me.”

The next sentence out of Stiles mouth makes my heart skip a beat. “Just kill me!” he yells, “Look, I don’t care anymore!”  
“Stiles, no! Don’t be stupid!” Peter is that deranged that I legitimately don’t know if he would grant that request or not if given the choice. I stand up and place my body between the two men as Peter starts to reach towards Stiles.

My eyes turn pitch black and I inject a large amount of compulsion into my voice. “Step back!” I command. Peter seems startled as he stumbles back three paces and finds that he is stuck in place. “Stiles, call Jackson. We need him to carry Lydia back to the school.” He pull out his phone and I turn back to Peter, my eyes still as dark as coal. I know that I look terrifying and I’m glad that Lydia is passed out already. I can feel my powers swirl and settle within me. “You picked the wrong day to mess with me or my own, Peter Hale. You will not harm a single hair on that boy, do you understand? No harm will come to him by you. Ever.”

He still seems slightly shaken, but pulls himself together with a smirk as Stiles hangs up his phone. “Fine, but the boy still comes with me. Unless you want me to get the information through one of your other little friends. You can’t protect everyone, little siren, and by your own word no harm will come to him through me.”

I can tell that he thinks he’s still got an ace up his sleeve so I don’t want to let Stiles go anywhere with him, but before I can say another word Stiles has bounded in front of me and is agreeing to go with him on the condition that he let me and Lydia go.

 

* * *

My dress is covered in Lydia’s blood from where I've tried to staunch the bleeding, so the EMT’s made me ride in the ambulance along with Lydia. She is still unconscious as they fire questions at me rapidly. I’m exhausted and just want to sleep away the next two days, but I know that this day is far from over.

“What’s your name, miss?” the paramedic asks me, “and who is your emergency contact please?”  
“My name is Vasilissa Volkov. I live with the Argent family, Victoria or Chris should be my emergency contact. I’m sixteen and today is my birthday. I’m not allergic to anything and I’m not injured, shouldn't you be focusing on Lydia?”  
“Don’t worry about your friend, sweetie,” she tells me as she pats my knee. I bite back a growl at that, I hate the name sweetie, “my colleague over there is looking after her. Can I get that contact number off you?” I rattle off the home number and text Allison as she is distracted with calling them.

**Message to: Smelly Ellie**

9:02pm

Hey Al, Lydia and I were attacked by something at the school. I’m fine, but Lydia is pretty badly injured. Not sure if she’ll make it. Can you get a ride up to the hospital?

_I’m on my way, Kate is coming too._

I get the reply just as the lady finishes up her call and turns her focus back towards me.

 

* * *

“Kate! Allison!” I call out as they step out of the elevator together. The emergency room doctor cleared me straight away, so I’ve been sitting here outside Lydia’s room talking to Sheriff Stilinski for the past I don’t know how long. Allison looks horrified as she steps up to the window outside Lydia’s room, but I ignore her for a second and walk over to Kate. I draw her in to a hug so that I can talk to her more discretely. “I told them it was an animal attack, but I didn't see the animal. Lydia was bitten by the Alpha, but she’s not turning. The alpha is Peter Hale, he kidnapped Stiles because Stiles can track Derek with a computer or something. He thought I was harmless so he let me stay with Lydia.”  
“Chris is out hunting at the moment, I’ll let him know. Do you want to come with me or stay here?” Kate says the last bit louder as she breaks our hug. To anyone else it would have looked like a relieved family member hugging me because they are relieved that I am safe and unharmed.  
“Is it okay if I stay here with Lydia for a bit? I don’t want to leave her by herself.” I ask as Allison comes back over.  
“Okay, kiddo. I’ll send Chris by later to pick you up. Message us if anything goes wrong.” But what she really means is ‘tell us if she starts to turn into an animal so we can put her down too.’

Allison draws me in for a hug and before I have a chance to be surprised she whispers in my ear, “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. We need to talk about this later.” Then pulls away with a tight-lipped smile, before leading Kate out of the hospital.

Well crap, how did she find out?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The hairstyle: http://cdnpix.com/show/imgs/d812ea4dee41bf3c0cf033313aae81af.jpg  
> The shoes: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/78/87/f6/7887f6f77df9eafe07ac4cb6be784983.jpg  
> The dress: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/real-sample-long-formal-dresses-juniors-sequin-evening-dress-sleeveless-sheath-ruched-formal-dresses-casual-floor/741347808.html  
> oh, and her car: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Fiat_Panda_2005_vl_blue.jpg  
> New siren power:  
> \- wings. I'm making it that her arms turn into wings, instead of wings sprouting from her back. It's rather silly for her to have six limbs, I thought. Did anyone see that one coming?  
> \- other powers: her other powers have been playing up recently as she approached 16 years of age, which is a major age for sirens in my story. They will all settle now and she'll have greater control over them than she did before.  
> Translations:  
> \- milaya: dear  
> \- ochen' moshchnyy = very powerful  
> rebenok = child 
> 
> We get to meet her mum! very briefly, but still - very exciting!  
> Also, the book mentioned in the birthday present section is a real book, and it's quite a funny read.


	14. It's the Alpha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group are left reeling after the disastrous ending to the Winter Formal.  
> Stiles uses his best defense to try and keep himself out of trouble with the hunters, but sometimes he doesn't know when to stop talking.  
> D-grade acting is done by some hunter goons, Lissa is a badarse, and Kate is a Psycho.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah! I know, I'm horrible.  
> I'm so sorry that it's been so long since my last update, but I've had major writer's block with how to play out this last section.  
> After this chapter there will only be one more, and then the story will be finished!

When Stiles finally spills out of the elevator half an hour later, I don’t know who’s more relieved – me or the Sheriff. After he had finished questioning me he had turned to Jackson who admitted that he had no idea where the man’s son was. The Sheriff had spent a frantic half hour thinking the worst as I sat next to Jackson, unable to assuage his fears without him asking me follow up questions that I wasn’t going to be able to answer.

He pulled his son aside for a hug and reprimand and I tuned them out in order to listen in to Lydia’s heartbeat. Her body was rejecting the bite and kept going in to shock. I’ve never heard of a banshee being bitten by an alpha werewolf before, so I honestly didn’t know how her body was going to take it. It’s times like these that I wish my mother had left me more than a guide book to help me wade my way through the supernatural madness that was my life. It would definitely be handier if she had of just stuck around and taught me all that I needed to know.

 

* * *

 

  
I have been sitting with Jackson for ages, waiting for any news on Lydia, when I blink and suddenly I’m sitting on the uncomfortable bench by myself. Cursing myself at my lack of awareness, I realise that I must have dozed off. I don’t have to stretch my hearing out very far to find where Jackson has disappeared to. I hear a loud slam, followed by a sharp intake of breath by Stiles, coming from an exam room down the hall. I can hear two racing heartbeats and three calm ones, and am shocked back to my surroundings by Chris’ voice forcefully asking, “did Scott try to kill you on the full moon? Did you have to lock him up?” 

“Crap!” I mutter as I get up and slowly make my way towards the room that they’re all in. I hadn’t even noticed Chris and his lackeys arriving, and since when did he know about Scott?  
“Yea, he did,” Stiles replies, drawing in a shaky breath, “I had to handcuff him to a radiator. Why? Would you prefer I locked him in the basement and burned the house down around him?”  
Wait, what? Is he blaming Chris for burning down the Hale house? I know they’re racist against anything not human, but that fire goes against their family’s code and Chris takes the Code seriously. I slip in the partially open door as the hunters are distracted by Stiles’ accusation, crouching down and moving to the side so I can hide from sight. Jackson noticed me entering the room, but thankfully he seems to have some sort of self-preservation for once, and he doesn’t say anything.

Chris scoffs and looks over to Jackson just as I manage to hide behind a table, before turning back to a shaking Stiles, “I hate to dispel a popular rumour, Stiles, but we never did that.”  
“Oh, right. Derek said you guys had a code. I guess no-one ever breaks it.” I can’t tell if Stiles is stalling for time or if he actually has proof that the Argent family was behind the arson. I’ve always known that Kate is a sick, sadistic lady, so if anyone was behind it I’d have to guess it was her. Chris looks like he is going to cry when, after asking Stiles who he’s talking about, he replies with, “your sister.”

I decide that now is as good a time as any to announce my presence, so I jump up on to the table that I was hiding behind, and swing my legs over the end closest to Chris and Stiles.  
“Well,” I say, causing everyone in the room to jump and turn towards me, “to be honest, that wouldn’t surprise me. She’s always given me the creeps, that sister of yours. You can’t honestly say that you don’t believe her to be capable of it.”  
“What? Lissa! How did you get in here?” Stiles splutters, although I can practically feel the relief rolling off him in waves. I giggle softly and swing my legs back and forth, the exhaustion causing me to feel slightly lightheaded.  
“I think that the better question is how long I have been here for” I start as I hop off the table and slowly walk towards the hunters holding Jackson in place, “for big bad hunters, you’re certainly all very unobservant. Let him go. He’s human and he’s done nothing wrong, there’s no reason for you to be holding him so tightly.”

The hunter, Mark, scoffs at me and rolls his eyes. Quick as a flash I pull one of my daggers out of its holder. I have it against his brother Joe’s throat before anyone has any time to register what’s happening.  
“I said release him.” I stage whisper into Joe’s ear so that everyone in the room can hear me, “you may follow your silly code, but I am no hunter. I have no qualms about taking your life, now release. My. Friend.” They both slowly release Jackson, who shakes out his coat before taking three large steps away from them towards the entrance.  
“Lissa, what?” Chris is looking at me confused, his arms hanging limply by his side. With a small smirk on his face, Stiles uses his distraction do step away from him and towards the table that I was hiding behind earlier.  
“I’m sorry Chris, but I’ve had a hell of a day today and I’m really not in the mood to deal with this grandstanding right now. I know who the alpha is and I told Kate so you can bet that she’s on her way over there as we speak. I don’t know how you found out about Scott, but he is innocent according to your Code. If you promise to leave him alone, I’ll help you deal with the alpha.”

He looks to be lost as to what to do and I remember reading that it’s the women in his family that make the decisions and draw up the battle plans.  
“The Hale house.” Stiles whispers low enough that I’m the only one that can hear, “She’s holding Derek at the Hale house, so that’s where everyone will be going.”  
With a slight nod of my head to show that I heard him, I turn my focus back to Chris.  
“Look, I don’t care if you want to send me back in to the system after this or whatever, but right now Kate is headed to finish off what she started all those years ago, and she’s got Allison with her.” That seems to send a jolt of recognition through Chris’ face. “I’m going to go and save my friends, with or without your help, but it’ll sure as hell go a lot easier if we work together.”

“Lissa, what do you mean? Of course we’re not putting you back in the system, you’re a part of our family now.” Chris starts, then breaks off with a heavy sigh, “alright, fine. Let’s go. You’ve got some serious explaining to do tomorrow, though!” with that he signals his lackeys and they all walk out the door together.

I turn back to face the boys with a small grin on my face, “okay, is it just me, or did thing-one and thing-two look like they learnt their intimidation tricks from a bad D-grade movie?”  
“It’s a lot more terrifying when it’s your life they’re threatening,” Stiles quips. I throw my arms around him in a quick hug, glad to see that he made it away from Peter unscathed, before turning and following Chris out of the hospital.

 

* * *

 

We were almost at the Hale house when the sound of a gunshot echoed around the preserve. Chris had decided that the two of us would be enough to talk down Kate, after which we would reconvene with his hunter buddies and plan an attack on Peter Hale. I thought he was being ridiculously optimistic in thinking that we’d make it through the night without at least some sort of a confrontation with the rabid alpha, but if that was what it took to make his lackeys stay behind then I was all for it. They were an unknown variable and I was hoping to make it through this night with the smallest amount of casualties possible.

“Lissa, I’m going to go in first and try to talk her down. I want you to stay back here, ok?” Chris says, before stepping out from the tree line and calling out loudly, “Kate! I know what you did. Put the gun down.” I peek out quickly from behind the tree and can see that she’s got her gun aimed at Scott on the ground, Allison on the ground behind her.  
“I did what I was told to do.” She calls back, not lowering her gun at all.  
“No-on told you to murder innocent people. There were children in that house, ones who were human!” Chris calls out as he slowly steps closer to her, “look at what you’re doing now, you’re holding a gun at a sixteen year old boy! With no proof he spilt human blood!” Oh good, I still wasn’t sure that I’d sold him on protecting Scott from Kate.

I’m beginning to think that maybe we can actually all get out of this alive when I hear another gun shot. Peeking around again, I see that Chris now has his gun raised at Kate and her finger is on the trigger.  
“Scott!” I whisper. He looks in my direction confusedly, but manages to make it look like he’s looking at Chris, “Scott you idiot, you’ll give me away! I’m here if you need me, ok?” Kate lowers her gun and Scott lets out a deep sigh of relief. As he exhales, he breathes out the word “okay” and I know that he’s got my message.

The front door creaking open makes everyone tense up again. Chris shouts for Allison to get back as Scott scrambles to his feet and they all take defensive positions facing the open door to the burnt out Hale house. “What is that?” At Allison’s shaky voice I slowly start to walk towards them.

“It’s the Alpha.” Scott states at the same time as I reach Chris’ side and say, “It’s Peter Hale.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta love a cliffhanger to finish off a chapter!  
> Rest assured, I'm already starting on the last chapter, so hopefully it won't be too long until the next update!  
> The next chapter will be the final one for this fic, but I am starting a new one shortly which is a crossover Harry Potter/Teen wolf fic, set a couple of years before Harry arrives at Hogwarts and things start turning to sh!t. Please head on over there and check out my first chapter, which will give you an idea of what to expect from the story! :)


	15. I'm the Alpha now.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter finally gets his chance at revenge on Kate, and Lissa has to step in to avoid mass casualties by the mad alpha. But can she manage to do it without revealing her secret to the Argents?   
> Read on to find out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, the final chapter!   
> I know it's short, but there wasn't really anything else to add.

I let out a low chuckle as Peter leaps from the house in his alpha form. What is it with boys and wanting to show off? If it was me I would have killed everyone quickly and cleanly, leaving no time for retaliation. He starts running around the clearing in front of the burnt out house and I let out a heavy sigh as Scott, Chris and Kate all whip around, trying to follow him.   
“I so don’t have the energy to deal with this.” I mutter as I sit down cross legged on the ground.

Peter takes out Chris first, confirming my suspicions that he is showing off, building up the tension in order to terrify Kate. Part of me thinks that she deserves what’s coming to her, is relishing in the thought of human death, but I shake my head and try to repress my siren nature. No! These aren’t just humans, they’re my family, my friends! On his next lap of the clearing Peter knocks Allison to the ground and she falls into my lap, dropping her bow in the process. She looks puzzled and says, “Lys? When did you get here?” I raise my finger to my lips and wink at her as Peter makes his final lap, knocking Scott to the ground, before coming to an abrupt stop just out of sight in the tree line.

“Come on!” Kate calls out as she spins around in circles, her heart beating madly, “Come ooon!” as she’s facing the other direction, Peter runs up to her, grabbing her gun hand and pointing it into the air. I have to tighten my grip around Allison’s waist as she tries to stand up before bang! Bang!  The gun goes off twice, and Peter breaks Kate’s firing arm. She lets out a pained grunt and screams as Peter grabs her by the throat and throws her into the air.

I’m so shocked by his strength that I don’t notice Allison pulling out of my hold and running in to the house after them. “Aw, crap.” I say as I crawl over to where Chris is lying unconscious on the ground. I can hear his heart beating steadily in his chest but from his laboured breathing I think he may have a broken or fractured rib. Deciding not to move him in case he’s injured, I turn my attention back to the main house in time to hear the wet splash of blood on one of the few remaining windows and Allison’s gasp of horror.

Scott and I share a glance of horror before we both get to our feet and run towards the house. Scott shifts into his beta form and I let the black bleed into my eyes as we enter the house to see Peter advancing on Allison, Kate’s body at his feet. My wings are itching to come out as Allison remains frozen in fear behind me and Derek steps out from a side room, face down and chest heaving with rage. Scott turns to Allison and says “run” but she’s still frozen with fear. I release my wings with a roll of my shoulders, causing a startled gasp to escape her, before I turn around and wrap my arms around her. Winking at her, I shoot straight up through a large hole in the roof, and slowly lower us down to safety near the tree line. Her legs are shaking as she pushes away from me and stumbles backward.

“You! You’ve got! What? Scott’s a – and you’re a – wings!” She seems to be stuck for words and can’t tear her eyes away from my wings. I draw them back into my back, glad that my dress is already wrecked, and let out a low chuckle.   
“Don’t tell your parents.” I say with a warning glare, before a crash from the house draws both of our attention back to the fight that is still going on. We’ve landed just near Chris, who is still unconscious on the floor. Allison notices this and falls to her knees, trying to revive him.

I can hear Jackson’s Porsche coming up the road as Scott comes flying out the side of the house, quickly followed by a demonic wolf-like mutation. My claws are out and I’m about to step in when Peter is distracted by the car horn going off. Suddenly a beaker full of chemicals flies towards him head and he catches it. “Oh, damn.” Stiles looks like someone just cancelled Christmas and I realise that the idiot has made one of Lydia’s Molotov cocktails, so now we have a rabid alpha with a bomb. Putting all of my will into my voice that I can muster I yell out, “Peter, Stop!” which causes the alpha to pause and turn to look at me in confusion.

”Change back.” I command. Now that he’s expecting it Peter is trying to fight the command, which gives enough of a distraction for Scott to throw Allison her bow and her to shoot an arrow at the cocktail, igniting both it and Peter’s arm. He lets out an unearthly roar as he waves his arm about, trying to stop himself from burning a second time around, but Jackson throws a second cocktail at him, which ignites over his chest and sets his whole body ablaze.

I wince in pity. After spending six years recovering from the fire that killed most of his family, burning to death certainly is the most nightmarish way to die. I’m really hoping that Stiles didn’t realise this when he chose his weapon of choice tonight, as that is a bit too macabre, even for my tastes. Peter roars to the sky before setting his sights on Allison. With his entire body still burning, he begins toward her. Scott is faster than I am in my state of shock, and he kicks the alpha hard in the chest. He flails backward a few meters before falling to the ground in human form, the fire burning out as it runs out of skin to burn away.

The five of us stand there in shock as he lies on the ground dying, taking small shuddering breaths as his body twitches involuntarily. I can’t believe it’s really over. The entire fight was over in less than five minutes and my brain is still trying to catch up to what just happened. I slowly stumble over to Stiles and Jackson as Allison bends down in front of Scott on the ground, taking his face in her hand and kissing him over his fangs. The moment seems too private for me to intrude on, so I wrap my arms around Stiles’ neck and bury my face in his chest. “Worst birthday ever” I mumble, which elicits a small half chuckle from him, before he wraps his arms around my back in a light hug, still staring at his best friend making out with my foster sister.

Chris chooses this moment to finally come back to consciousness, jumping up off the ground and staring at Scott and his daughter. I turn around at the sound of him getting up and face him in time to see him roll his eyes with a resigned look across his face.

 

* * *

 

 

I’d completely forgotten about Derek and Peter, too relieved that we’d all mostly survived the night to give the werewolves a second thought, but my attention is brought back to them as Scott runs over to them yelling, “Wait!” Derek is crouched over the still smoking body of his uncle, claws extended, as Scott continues, “you said the cure comes from the one who bit you.” What? There is no cure from Lycanthropy, it’s a complete rewrite of the genetic code. “Derek. If you do this, I’m dead. Her father, her family? What am I supposed to do?” Oh Scotty, I think, he’s such a nice boy but he can be so dense right now. Here Derek is, crouching over the man who killed his sister, who stole his last remaining family and happiness from him, and he’s about to get revenge. He’s not going to stop because a teenaged boy wants to continue hooking up with the niece of the woman who killed his family.

“You’ve. Already. Decided.” Peter pants out, “I can smell it on you!” he further goads Derek as his eyes flash red, before Derek raises his claws and slashes out his uncle’s throat. I can see the moment that the life leaves Peter’s body, as his aura fades to nothing and Derek’s becomes a darker shade of purple than before.

Allison whimpers and curls in to her father’s embrace as Derek stands and turns to face them, his eyes glowing deep red. “I’m the alpha now.” He states in a deep, powerful tone.   


 

Yup, tonight seems to be entirely about boys showing off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! What is it with boys and showing off?   
> So, that's the end of it! My very first fan fic story. It was certainly a lot harder to write than what I initially anticipated, but I'm so glad to finally have it finished.   
> Please, leave me comments letting me know what you thought of the story, I hope I managed to keep it as close to canon as possible, and I hope I did the characters justice.   
> I like to pretend that Derek wasn't stupid/desperate enough to give Jackson the Bite, so I decided to leave that bit out of the ending and pretend that Derek is smart and chooses better candidates to be his betas. Because there's no Kanima, I believe that the Alpha pack didn't come for him because their attention wasn't drawn to the peaceful town of Beacon Hills.   
> So lets just pretend that there's happy endings and Boyd and Erica don't have to die.   
> Okay? Okay.


End file.
